Predictors of self-management in patients with chronic low back pain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Predictors of self-management in patients with chronic low back pain
IRAS ID
188664
Contact name
Paul Hendrick
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 28 days
Research summary
Chronic low back pain means low back pain (with or without pain in one or both legs) persisting more than three months. Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is the number one cause of disability and associated with high healthcare usage (visiting general physician and physiotherapist) and substantial healthcare cost. Self-management (SM); which can be defined as one's ability to self-manage symptoms, treatment, and physical, mental and life-style changes; is recommended in the UK guideline for patients with CLBP.
The earlier research on SM programmes in CLBP has shown very small (but not clinically meaningful) beneficial change in pain and disability markers. One main reason for this small change is due to difficulty in selecting the right patients who more likely response favourably with SM programme in absence of understanding what predicts SM in this population.
The overarching purpose of this study to identify the predictors of self-management and its change in working age patients, who are attending outpatient physiotherapy treatment for their CLBP. The proposed study is purely observational and patients will continue their treatment as recommended by their care team. Willing and eligible research participants will be requested to fill in two separate questionnaires, six months apart, which may take 20 to 30 minutes to complete. The questionnaires have been developed using several validated scales, which have been used extensively in patients with CLBP to measure different pain, physical and psychological factors. The study data will be analysed to identify predictors of SM and its change. The results of this study will inform future development of targeted and tailored self-management programme for the patients with CLBP and also effective patient selection for the SM programme.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
15/ES/0167
Date of REC Opinion
19 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion