Background & Aims
Low back pain (LBP) is a common health condition worldwide, and in Brazil, it affects 9.2% of the population (22 million people have LBP). Misconceptions about LBP have the potential to promote unfavorable behaviour in managing LBP, contributing to disability. Addressing beliefs is considered a promising strategy to promote more favorable attitudes and to mitigate the LBP burden, and messages can be disseminated at low cost and consumers’ friendly format and content through digital and social media communication. However, before we can implement advice, we must first understand the real scenario of LBP beliefs in our community. Thus, we aimed to explore the beliefs and attitudes about LBP in consumers from the Brazilian community, identifying the most favorable and unfavorable beliefs; to compare the beliefs and attitudes of individuals with and without LBP; and to correlate sociodemographic factors with beliefs in among these consumers.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional study, secondary to a web-based randomised controlled trial with Brazilians aged 18 years and older from the general public. The survey recruited a convenience sample on social media between December 2022 and November 2023. Accesses occurred through a hyperlink and a QR code that directed to REDCap, the host web platform. The participants provided online informed consent and sociodemographic data (age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, familiar income, state where lives in Brazil and pain status). We accessed beliefs and attitudes about LBP using the Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire (score range from -68 to 68) and e-health literacy with the eHealth Literacy Scale (8 to 40). We used descriptive analyses to characterize the sample, a Student’s t-test to compare the beliefs and attitudes of individuals with and without LBP, and a multivariate linear regression to associate the participants’ characteristics with their beliefs regarding LBP.
Results
A total of 448 participants completed the online survey. The mean age was 38, with a majority of women having completed tertiary education and earning between 4 and 10 minimum wages for family income. About 70% had experienced LBP in the previous 30 days. The mean e-health literacy was 26.6 points, and LBP beliefs and attitudes were -10.8. The most unfavorable beliefs identified were: to affirm that having strong muscles and good posture was necessary to protect the back, and to look for health professionals when in pain. The most favorable beliefs were: to contradict that there is nothing to do in case of LBP; to affirm that stress interferes with pain, and try to stay active despite the pain. Those with current LBP had more unfavorable beliefs compared to those without pain (-4.83, 95% CI -7.62 to -2.05; p<0,001). Being young, female, having high e-health literacy, and having family income above 2 minimum wages were associated with positive beliefs (F=9.57, p<.001, Adjusted R²=0,12).
Conclusions
Participants from the Brazilian general community have unfavorable beliefs regarding the cope with and self-management of LBP, which are worse for those who had experienced the complaint. The most unfavorable beliefs refer to the biomedical model, while the most favorable ones encompass psychosocial elements and advocate for trying to stay active despite pain. Sociodemographic factors as age, gender, family income and e-health literacy are associated with LBP beliefs and attitudes, which can direct the educational process to reduce the LBP burden in the community.
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Presenting Author
Fabianna Resende de Jesus Moraleida
Poster Authors
Viviane Rocha Celedonio
Master Candidate
Federal University of Ceara
Lead Author
Ana Carla Lima Nunes
Universidade Federal do Ceará
Lead Author
Lara do Carmo Feitosa - Graduated/Physiotherapy
Federal University of Ceara
Lead Author
Adria Pâmela Silva Barbosa - Undergraduated
Federal University of Ceara
Lead Author
Fabianna Resende de Jesus Moraleida - PhD
Federal University of Ceara
Lead Author
Topics
- Specific Pain Conditions/Pain in Specific Populations: Low Back Pain