Psychosocial Predictors of Outcome in Acute and Subchronic Low Back Trouble

Pain Catastrophizing Is Associated With Health Indices in Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Dutch Community.

“…Also, some prospective studies suggest that fear-avoidance beliefs and pain catastrophizing are precursors of pain-related disability rather than consequences (Burton, Tillotson, Main, & Hollis, 1995;Klenerman et al, 1995;Linton, Buer, Vlaeyen, & Hellsing, 2000;Linton & Hallden, 1998). Overall, the results of these studies are consistent with the fear-avoidance model developed by Vlaeyen, Kole Snijders, Boeren, and van Eek (1995), which suggests that pain catastrophizing and fear of movement or (re)injury foster the development of chronic pain problems.…”

The prognostic value of catastrophizing for predicting the clinical evolution of low back pain patients: a study in routine clinical practice within the Spanish National Health Service

“…32 Results from randomized controlled trials and small prospective studies are inconsistent. 2,4,7,12,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Differences in sample size, recruitment context (e.g., patients treated in routine practice vs. secondary analyses of data gathered in clinical trials), patients' characteristics, and statistical methods used across studies (e.g., use of hierarchical vs. non-hierarchical models) can account for this inconsistency. For instance, the use of hierarchical models implies pre-hoc assumptions and favors those variables which the authors choose to enter first, since these have a greater chance of attaining statistical significance.…”

“…In fact, while associations between LBP and catastrophizing have been observed in some studies conducted in the Northern European and Anglo-Saxon cultural contexts. [2][3][4]7,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][53][54][55][56] , to date no psychological variable has shown to be relevant with regards to the treatment or clinical evolution of LBP patients in the Spanish context. [11][12][13]18 Therefore, further studies should assess the generalizability of current results to other cultural environments, and identify which psychological variables influence the prognosis of LBP in the Spanish cultural context.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] FAB refer to the fear-induced avoidance of movements or activities which are expected to be painful, whereas catastrophizing is defined as an exaggerated negative mental state related to an actual or anticipated painful experience. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] In the Spanish cultural environment, FAB have shown to have an either negligible or nonexistent influence on LBP among elderly populations and among acute, subacute and chronic LBP patients treated in routine practice, [10][11][12][13] whereas catastrophizing correlates with disability and explains approximately one fourth of its variance, 13,14 suggesting that it may have an influence on the prognosis of LBP patients.…”

“…Some randomized controlled trials and small studies in routine practice suggest that baseline catastrophizing is associated with the evolution of pain and disability, some suggest the contrary, and others conclude that catastrophizing predicts the outcome of acute LBP, but not before 6 weeks after the onset of pain. 2,4,7,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Results from the only large prospective study conducted in routine practice, suggest that baseline catastrophizing does not predict the evolution of LBP-related disability. 32 If catastrophizing were to actually have a negative influence on prognosis, it would follow that, in routine practice, clinicians should identify patients in whom psychological treatment to address catastrophizing should be considered.…”