Photo Credit: Enes Ertan
The following is a summary of “Persistence, not avoidance, is associated with low back pain—An observational cohort study,” published in the September 2024 issue of Pain by Hotz-Boendermaker et al.
Low back pain (LBP) is a persistent condition with avoidance and persistence behaviors correlating psychosocial factors and biomechanics, leading to maladaptive musculoskeletal changes and movement control impairment (MCI).
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to observe avoidance and persistence behavior and MCI in participants with acute LBP over 1 year and explore their relationship with pain persistence.
They assessed 165 participants at 5-time points: ≤ 1 month (baseline), 2, 3, 6, and 12 months after acute LBP onset and collected clinical data such as self-reported outcomes at baseline for avoidance, persistence, and assessments of MCI, analyzed by linear mixed-effects regression models.
The results showed that a 1-point increase in persistence scores in the adjusted model resulted in a 3.31-point increase in pain intensity while interacting with state anxiety over time (P= 0.05, 95% CI 0.07–6.07). This effect was not found for avoidance behavior at baseline (P= 0.21) and MCI.
They concluded that continuing usual activities beyond pain, coupled with feelings of distress, may lead to persistent LBP, highlighting the importance of a multidimensional therapeutic approach for physical and psychological factors in acute LBP.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ejp.4728
