Background & Aims
Considering the high burden of low back pain (LBP) on individuals and society, clinical guidelines recommend addressing helpful beliefs as a strategy of the biopsychosocial approach to decrease pain and disability. Social media has the potential to greatly disseminate education material that could facilitate positive changes in beliefs toward this condition. To our knowledge, no randomised controlled trial has evaluated the effect of a digital LBP education material on consumers from general public. Our research group has previously developed a package of material for promoting positive beliefs and self-management strategies towards LBP. If this is proved to be effective, it can be disseminated through a mass media campaign. We aimed to identify the immediate effect of exposure to a set of evidence-based digital LBP education materials on consumers’ beliefs and attitudes about LBP (compared to general health and hygiene habits information available on the Brazilian government website).
Methods
We conducted a web-based randomised controlled trial with Brazilians aged 18 and over from the general public. The recruitment for the survey was on social media and access was provided via a hyperlink that referred to REDCap, the host web platform. Participants were stratified based on having or not LBP, and randomly allocated to one of two groups. The intervention group was exposed to a package of digital LBP education material (infographic, interactive infographic, video and booklet) with messages of accurate beliefs and attitudes toward LBP. The control group was exposed to a digital material on general health habits distributed by the Brazilian government. The primary outcome was beliefs and attitudes about LBP (Back Pain Attitude Questionnaire, range scores from -68 to +68). We reported the results of our primary outcome, measured at baseline and immediately post-exposure. We used mixed linear models to estimate between-group differences.
Results
A total of 448 participants were equally assigned to the intervention and control groups. The mean age was 38 years (12.7). The majority of participants were females with tertiary education, and earning between 4 and 10 minimum wages for family income. About 70% of them had LBP in the previous month in each group. In the control group, the mean value of beliefs at baseline was -12.12 (14.5) and at post-intervention was -9.77 (15.9). In the intervention group, the mean values were -9.84 (14.4) and -1.83 (15.9) respectively. Mean between-group difference was statistically significant post-intervention (MD=-7.94; 95%CI -11.55 to -4.33; <.001), in favor of intervention group, meaning that the intervention group was more effective in changing beliefs and attitudes about LBP than the control group in the immediate term.
Conclusions
The package of digital LBP education material for social media intervention improved immediate beliefs and attitudes about LBP in the general public post-intervention, compared to a digital educational material on general health habits. The immediate effect of education is important, because it can influence consumers’ willingness to adhere to evidence-based recommendations for LBP and to avoid unnecessary care over time. The material has demonstrated immediate-term effect, but we acknowledge that the differences seen are not an indication of permanent changes. These are preliminary findings, and we shall further explore the outcomes eight weeks after exposure.
References
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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
Rafael Zambelli Pinto - PhD
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Lead Author
Chris G. Maher - DMedSc
Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, The University of Sydney
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