A study of the relationship among fear-avoidance beliefs, pain and disability index in patients with low back pain

This study was conducted in order to determine the relationship among fear-avoidance beliefs, pain and disability index in patients with low back pain as well as to identify factors having an influence on fear-avoidance beliefs, pain and disability index. The subjects used in this study were 55 patients with low back pain. All subjects completed a fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FABQ) which was divided into two subscales, FABQ for physical activity (FABQ-P) and FABQ for work (FABQ-W), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ). In correlation analysis, FABQ-P appeared to show significant correlation with FABQ-W, FABQ-total, VAS and RMDQ, and all variables showed significant correlation with each other. Findings of this study suggest that screening for fear-avoidance beliefs may be useful for identification of patients at risk of psychosocial problems as well as pain intensity and physical impairment.