Answer 1

We thought that YES there was a clear question.

  • The population is adults with chronic (3 months or more) non-specific low back pain while lying in bed and rising.
  • The intervention and comparator are the use of a firm or medium-firm mattress.
  • The "primary" outcomes are pain in bed, pain on rising, and disability.

NOTE: there is usually just one primary outcome. This helps reduce the probability that an apparent benefit - which is really just a chance occurrence - gets over-emphasised by the authors or readers. If one is measuring 20 outcomes and using a P value of