Tehran University Medical Journal

Classifying patients with low back pain into homogeneous and distinct categories by organizing similar manifestations among individuals can be helpful to attain better results for treatments. Providing homogenous categories of patients with low back pain would improve benefits produced by treatments. To gain a greater understanding of the proposed multi-stage process and validate diagnostic categories, the current research was designed to conduct a review about this process. We aimed to validate movement system impairment (MSI) based categories of people with chronic low back pain. MSI-based classification uses a standardized approach for classifying people with low back pain into 1 of 5 subgroups. For the present narrative review, computerized databases of EMBASE, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed and Science Direct were searched for articles published between January 1990 and December 2018. For electronic searches, keywords and terms used were: “Reliability”, “Validity”, “Classification”, “low back pain" and “Human Movement System”. Fourteen full-text research reports that have been undertaken to add clinical, laboratory and outcome validity to MSI-based classification of low back pain were included in the review. Five studies were categorized as clinical validity studies which investigated the accuracy of examinations for patients with low back pain, 5 studies categorized as laboratory validity studies and 4 studies categorized as outcome validity studies which included randomized control trials. The results of this review revealed that novice users can learn the diagnosis algorithm of MSI-based categories of low back pain and by practicing, their inter-tester reliability and precision in applying the classification algorithm would be comparable to that of described for experienced expert raters. The laboratory-based tests, including 3D motion analysis, indicated that there are differences in movement patterns of the lumbar spine between low back pain subgroups. Also, for people with low back pain, classification-specific treatments based on the MSI model resulted in better outcomes. In conclusion, this review indicated the validity of the MSI classification system in people with chronic low back pain.

Background: By examining the comprehensive system for evaluating the academic progress of general medical students, often the objectives of the cognitive domain and the form of cumulative evaluation were used, and the tests were not used much for feedback to the students. The aim of the study is to develop a model that fits the levels of Miller's evaluation pyramid in formative-cumulative forms.
Methods: The search was started in Iranian and international databases, magazines, curriculum of prestigious universities in the world. To find out about the latest events in the field of assessment, AMEE international virtual conferences in August 2021 and the summary booklet of medical education articles of Shahid Motahari 1400 (the 22nd national conference of medical education) were reviewed. Data analysis was done by Beredy's adaptive model. The search and analysis lasted for 11 months. Finally, a model was developed according to Miller's evaluation pyramid. Its validation was done in the focus group meeting in two ways, in person at Mashhad Medical School and virtual.

Results: According to the extracted data, the approach of assessment is towards formative assessment format and improvement of traditional methods along with modern methods, which was clearly observed in the study of the curriculum of Harvard-Stanford University in America and Oxford University in England. Integrating the results with Miller's evaluation levels, and the formative and cumulative evaluation format, led to the formulation of a model with the most favorable opinions of experts. In addition, the majority of opinions and suggestions of experts were related to the change in the way of executive policies of universities and providing a context for the emergence of new idea. Conclusion: A model including measurement methods according to the levels of Miller's evaluation pyramid was developed in formative-cumulative. It is suggested that the model be reviewed by the relevant experts and notified by taking into account the implementation conditions for the correct evaluation process.