The Experience of Low Back Pain in Iranian Women: A Focus Group Study

Abstract

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) often proves resistant to treatment because there are different biological, psychological, and social factors that can affect its treatment. In this study, we explored Iranian women's beliefs regarding the cause of their LBP. Findings are based on four focus groups (N = 24 participants) with LBP patients. Participants articulated their causation beliefs (Explanatory Models) about low back pain through three themes: idioms of distress: stress in women's lives; lack of knowledge resulted in high-risk behaviors; and organic/biomedical. Given the difficultly regarding diagnosis and treatment of CLBP, understanding patients' health beliefs, causation beliefs, and experiences are warranted.

The impact of chronic low back pain is partly related to loss of social role: A qualitative study

“…The number of focus groups and participants were close to published focus group studies [29]. This study was conducted by rheumatologists, while most studies in this field are conducted by psychologists: in a recent review of qualitative studies on LBP [4], only one [18] of the 33 studies [5][6][7][8][9][10]13,[19][20][21][22][23]32] was conducted by physicians. Thus, some aspects of experiences of LBP could have been under-evaluated.…”

“…The other studies did not explore in depth the role of social participation in LBP [17][18][19][20][21]. On the other hand, relationships with health professionals have been well evaluated: individualized care, clear explanations, reassurance, discussing psychosocial issues and future options enhances positive relationships [22][23][24].…”

“…The impact of relationships with family and friends on living with chronic LBP was briefly explored only in a few qualitative studies [5,[17][18][19][20][21]: Participants reported in one study being a burden to their families with increasing misunderstanding as time went on with no diagnosis or formal explanation [5]. The other studies did not explore in depth the role of social participation in LBP [17][18][19][20][21].…”

Patients’ experiences of chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain: a qualitative systematic review

“…The team members did not agree over 24 papers and sent these to two other team members for a decision. Sixteen studies were excluded after quality appraisal, [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59] hence 77 papers were included reporting 60 studies. These studies explored the experiences of 1168 adults ranging from 18 to 91 years of age.…”

Experiences of chronic low back pain: a meta-ethnography of qualitative research

“…Spousal and parental relationships were highly stressed by back pain, with reports of diminished trust and mutual understanding (Ashby et al, 2010;Campbell & Guy, 2007;De Souza & Frank, 2011;Holloway, Sofaer-Bennett, & Walker, 2007;Strunin & Boden, 2004;Tavafian, Gregory, & Montazeri, 2008;Young et al, 2011). Depictions of spousal relationships emphasised hardship, dependence on help from the partner, negative 70 P. MacNeela et al…”