What Are the Brakes and Levers of Physical Activity Practice for Patients With Chronic Lower Back Pain?

What Are the Brakes and Levers of Physical Activity Practice for Patients With Chronic Lower Back Pain : a Qualitative Study

Non-specific chronic lower back pain is a common pathology which is a real public health problem. Around 84% of the population could have non-specific chronic lower back pain at least once in their lives and 8% of that non-specific lower back pain could become chronical (pain that would last at least 3 months). This proportion of patients represents 85% of the costs related to this pathology.

Physical activity practice is involved in medical care for plenty of chronical diseases and particularly for chronic lower back pain. In 2003, World Health Organization pointed out the poor adhesion of patients with chronical diseases to medical prescriptions and the after-effects it could have on illness evolution. Therefore, adhesion to physical activity practice for patients with chronic lower back pain is one of the most challenging matters for medical teams.

The aim of this study was to identify the brakes and levers of physical activity practice for these patients. Sixteen individual interviews and four focus groups have been carried out on patients with chronic lower back pain who were taken care of either by a rachis functional restoration program or by primary care.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Non-specific Chronic Lower Back Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Back Belief questionnaire; Behavioral: QUEBEC scale; Behavioral: Fear Avoidance beliefs questionnaire; Behavioral: Visual analog scale; Behavioral: individual interviews; Behavioral: Focus groups

Detailed Description

Non-specific chronic lower back pain is a common pathology which is a real public health problem. Around 84% of the population could have non-specific chronic lower back pain at least once in their lives and 8% of that non-specific lower back pain could become chronical (pain that would last at least 3 months). This proportion of patients represents 85% of the costs related to this pathology.

Physical activity practice is involved in medical care for plenty of chronical diseases and particularly for chronic lower back pain. In 2003, World Health Organization pointed out the poor adhesion of patients with chronical diseases to medical prescriptions and the after-effects it could have on illness evolution. Therefore, adhesion to physical activity practice for patients with chronic lower back pain is one of the most challenging matters for medical teams.

The aim of this study was to identify the brakes and levers of physical activity practice for these patients. Sixteen individual interviews and four focus groups have been carried out on patients with chronic lower back pain who were taken care of either by a rachis functional restoration program or by primary care.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 29

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Clermont-Ferrand, France, 63003
    • CHU de Clermont-Ferrand

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

patients with chronic lower back pain

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female who are at least 18 years old
• Patients with non-specific chronic lower back pain

Exclusion Criteria:

• Mental or physical disabilities incompatible with focus groups/individual interviews and filling out questionnaires.
• Inability to understand or speak French properly
• Symptomatic lower back pain

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
chronic lower back pain	Behavioral: Back Belief questionnaire; Behavioral: QUEBEC scale; Behavioral: Fear Avoidance beliefs questionnaire; Behavioral: Visual analog scale; Behavioral: individual interviews; Behavioral: Focus groups

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Individual interviews	patients with non-specific chronic lower back pain explain directly to their doctors what is preventing them from having physical activity	at day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
questions about their lower back pain and physical activity		at day 1
Back Belief questionnaire	- Back Belief questionnaire that evaluates patients' knowledge about lower back pain	at day 1
QUEBEC scale	- QUEBEC scale that evaluates the impact of lower back pain on the daily lives of patients	at day 1
Fear Avoidance Beliefs questionnaire	- Fear Avoidance Beliefs questionnaire that evaluates fears and beliefs about the disease	at day 1
Visual Analog Scale	Visual Analog Scale that evaluates pain	at day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand
• Collaborators: Université Montpellier

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 5, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): June 9, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): June 9, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2015
• Last Verified: June 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical activity; Adhesion; Self-care; Non-specific chronic lower back pain; Self-exercises; Brakes; Levers
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Back Pain; Low Back Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: CHU-0237