| Course | PA 650 Capstone Project |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Population definition |
| Length | About 560 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 650 Week 3
Patient Population Definition for the Capstone: Adults 18 to 64 Being Discharged With Acute Nonradicular Low Back Pain, Each Inclusion a Clinician Can Apply, Each Exclusion With Its Reason and Older Adults Left Undecided
Student Name
Chamberlain University
PA 650: Capstone Project
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Patient Population Definition for the Capstone: Adults 18 to 64 Being Discharged With Acute Nonradicular Low Back Pain, Each Inclusion a Clinician Can Apply, Each Exclusion With Its Reason and Older Adults Left Undecided
The Decision Comes Before the Group
The decision is whether to add a skeletal muscle relaxant to naproxen at discharge. The population is therefore defined as people in front of a clinician at that moment, not as people with a diagnosis code.
Inclusions a Clinician Can Apply
1. Age 18 to 64.
2. Seen in an emergency department or urgent care and being discharged home.
3. Low back pain that began two weeks ago or less.
4. No trauma in the history, such as a fall or collision, that started the pain.
5. No pain radiating below the knee and a normal straight leg raise.
6. Being prescribed naproxen or another NSAID at discharge.
Each line can be answered yes or no from the history and a two-minute examination, which is what a busy discharge allows.
Every Exclusion Carries Its Reason
Pain below the knee or a positive straight leg raise: suggests nerve root involvement, which has a different course and different treatments.
Red flags such as fever, weight loss, history of cancer, saddle anesthesia or new bladder problems: these need workup, not symptom treatment.
Trauma: fracture must be considered first.
Pregnancy: drug safety considerations differ, and the trials excluded pregnant patients.
Contraindication to NSAIDs, such as kidney disease or a history of gastrointestinal bleeding: the comparison assumes naproxen is given to everyone.
Current opioid or benzodiazepine use: added sedation from a muscle relaxant would be a different risk.
Undecided, and Said So
Adults 65 and older are left out of this question but not settled. Skeletal muscle relaxants appear on the Beers list of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults because of sedation, anticholinergic effects and fall risk (American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel, 2023). The main emergency department trials enrolled younger adults. Rather than stretch the answer to them, I leave older adults as a separate question.
The Hard Patient, Placed
The hardest case I met was a 44-year-old commercial truck driver with acute back pain who must drive the next morning. The driver meets every inclusion and none of the exclusions, so belongs in the population. Sedation risk matters more for this person, which the recommendation will need to address, but that is a reason to treat the patient carefully within the group, not to move them out of it.
A second hard case, a 63-year-old with mild chronic kidney disease, falls outside the group under the NSAID exclusion, even though the back pain itself is identical. That exclusion follows from the comparison, not from the pain.
Where the Definition Comes From
Inclusions 3 to 5 follow the trial populations closely: patients with acute, nontraumatic, nonradicular back pain discharged from an emergency department (Friedman et al., 2015). Keeping the definition close to the trials means the evidence will fit the people it is applied to.
References
American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel. (2023). American Geriatrics Society 2023 updated AGS Beers Criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(7), 2052-2081. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18372
Friedman, B. W., Dym, A. A., Davitt, M., Holden, L., Solorzano, C., Esses, D., Bijur, P. E., & Gallagher, E. J. (2015). Naproxen with cyclobenzaprine, oxycodone/acetaminophen, or placebo for treating acute low back pain: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 314(15), 1572-1580. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.13043
PA 650 Week 3 instructions, in plain terms
The third week asks for a population definition in short, testable lines with a paragraph of reasoning longer than the list. Describe people by what puts them in front of a clinician at the moment of the decision, rather than only by a diagnosis. Each inclusion should be something a clinician can apply at the bedside. Every exclusion needs its reason. Where you have not decided whether a group belongs, say so and explain. Place at least one hard patient, someone who tests the boundary, clearly inside or outside. The definition may follow the population of the main study behind your question, and saying so helps the evidence fit. Cite the sources behind any exclusion or undecided group.
Inside the PA 650 Week 3 example
The opening ties the population to the moment of discharge. Six inclusions follow: age 18 to 64, discharge from an emergency department or urgent care, pain for two weeks or less, no trauma, no pain below the knee with a normal straight leg raise and an NSAID at discharge. Exclusions each carry a reason: radicular signs, red flags, trauma, pregnancy, NSAID contraindications and current opioid or benzodiazepine use. A section leaves adults 65 and older undecided, citing the Beers criteria (the 2023 Beers criteria) and the younger trial populations. A section places a 44-year-old commercial truck driver inside the group while flagging sedation risk. The last section ties inclusions 3 to 5 to the Friedman et al. (2015) trial so the evidence fits the people it will be applied to.
Where the points sit in the PA 650 Week 3 rubric
The definition loses the most when it defines people by a diagnosis code alone, without the decision moment. Next come inclusions a clinician could not apply at the bedside, such as "uncomplicated back pain" without criteria. Exclusions without reasons cost a defined share each. Faculty reward an undecided group stated openly, with its reason, rather than quietly dropped. Placing a hard patient on one side of the line tests the definition and earns credit. Tying the definition to the main study's population shows the evidence will fit. Citation of the sources behind exclusions, in APA form, completes the rubric.
PA 650 Week 3 help from the desk
Population definitions most often fall short by listing diagnoses without saying when the decision happens. Another frequent problem is exclusions with no reasons, which look arbitrary. Some definitions also avoid hard cases altogether. If your capstone population is different, such as adults with acute sinusitis or children with fever, send your question and the main study you rely on; a definition written for you would anchor the group to the decision, write inclusions a clinician can check, give a reason for every exclusion, leave undecided groups visible and place one hard patient. If your clinic's own numbers are wanted, the definition would show how they would be counted.
Get a PA-650 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 3 instructions and the question you settled on, and a custom patient population definition written to your rubric comes back inside 24-48h, free the first time. If your classroom supplies a table with fixed columns for inclusion and exclusion, send that as well and the sample is built straight into it.
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PA 650 Week 3 questions, answered
Can the population be the one my project's main study used?
Some sections allow it and a few require it. What it costs you is the part of Week 3 that carries marks, which is the reasoning beside each line: a borrowed list arrives with the trial's reasons, not yours, and a marker cannot tell which ones you would defend. Where you do borrow, annotate every line with whether you agree, and say what you would change.
How tight is too tight?
The test most faculty apply is arithmetic rather than aesthetic: roughly how many patients a year would meet this in a clinic of the kind you have described. Where the answer is a handful, the project has narrowed itself out of any evidence and out of any use. Where it is most of a waiting room, nothing has been narrowed. Say the estimate out loud in the document.
Does the definition need real numbers from a clinic?
Usually not, and sections rarely expect access to anybody's figures. What works is naming where the count would come from, what field would have to be readable, and roughly what fraction of notes would answer the question at all. That last figure is a finding in itself, and a definition depending on something nobody records has told the project something useful about whether it could ever be run.
Where can I find a free PA 650 Week 3 sample paper?
This page carries a full PA 650 Week 3 population definition for adults discharged with acute nonradicular back pain, with reasons for every exclusion.
Where does the commercial driver fit in the PA 650 Week 3 sample?
Inside the population, since the driver meets every inclusion and no exclusion, with sedation risk flagged for the recommendation to address.