ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Dysfunctional attitudes and beliefs in patients with low back pain may interfere with pain, disability, and mood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavior of beliefs and attitudes in chronic low back pain and to correlate them with the intensity of pain, disability, anxiety, and depression.
METHODS:
We evaluated 82 patients with chronic low back pain according to the Numerical Scale of Pain, Survey of Pain Attitudes, Hospital Scale of Anxiety and Depression, and Oswestry Disability Index.
RESULTS:
More than half of the patients were female (51.22%) with a mean age above 40 years. The pain was mild to moderate at 53.65%. Severe disability was observed in 64.63%, anxiety in 63.41% and depression in 41.46%. The solicitude and disability beliefs showed significant associations in all groups. For physical damage, there was an association with disability and anxiety. Medical cure correlated between the anxiety variable.
CONCLUSION:
Patients presented dysfunctional beliefs associated with the intensity of pain, anxiety, depression and mainly disability, with a probable influence on the treatment. This relationship shows how important it is to carry out new studies that evaluate therapeutic approaches, such as targeted interventions and educational programs, aimed at the patient’s beliefs with low back pain to determine their impact on pain control and treatment.
Keywords:
Anxiety; Back pain; Beliefs; Depression; Disability