Is there a relationship between self-efficacy, disability, pain and sociodemographic characteristics in chronic low back pain? A multicenter retrospective analysis.
Silvano Ferrari, Carla Vanti, Marta Pellizzer and 3 others
PMID 31632695WHAT IT FOUND
Most Italian outpatients with chronic low back pain starting physiotherapy reported low confidence in doing activities despite pain.
Female sex and pain medication use were linked to lower confidence and higher disability; education, age and smoking related to pain and disability.
Key findings
01199 of 310 patients scored at or below 40 on the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, indicating poor self-efficacy.
02Female sex and drug use were significantly associated with poorer self-efficacy.
03Disability was related to age, female sex, low educational level, height, pain duration and drug use; pain intensity was related to educational level, smoking, height and drug use.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This was a retrospective secondary analysis of existing records, so it can show associations at the first session but cannot show cause and effect. 62 records were excluded for missing data, and missing values were not handled with a formal statistical method. Disability was measured in only 165 of the 310 patients, so the disability findings are based on a smaller subgroup. The sample was from northern Italy and had a medium-high education level, so the results may not apply to all patients with chronic low back pain. The analysis used baseline questionnaire scores, so it does not show how self-efficacy, pain or disability changed during treatment.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that female sex, drug use, education, age or smoking cause worse self-efficacy, pain or disability. This was a retrospective analysis of baseline records, so it cannot show cause and effect.