The aim of the CPR is to identify patients with LBP who are likely to benefit from IMDN. Improvement of patient-reported outcomes and clinical measures of pain are the outcomes being predicted by the model. The CPR will be developed in a double-phase design. The first phase will be an RCT, 2 x 3 group (IMDN or Sham) by time (pretest, post-treatment week 1, post-treatment week 2, posttest, follow-up) with repeated measures on timeframe. This design will establish if improvement of patient reported outcomes and clinical measures of pain are achieved because of the IMDN treatment. Furthermore, each group will receive the same type and volume of lumbar and hip stretching exercises in conjunction with their assigned needling regimen. The second phase will utilize logistic regression analysis to identify associations between the groups' demographic, historical, clinical variables and short-term pain and disability outcomes. This type of analysis will be able to identify strong predictors of the treatment outcome. Various processes will be used to determine optimal model fit for analysis.
