Chronic low back pain and fear avoidance model : role of sociocultural factors in development of disability

Abstract

The paramount aim of this thesis was to provide supporting evidence for the role of psychosocial and cultural factors in development of disability in people with CLBP through two high quality studies. The novel studies will impact the CLBP management by drawing attention towards different socioeconomic and cultural factors influencing the outcomes. This thesis found that work related fear, anxiety, depression, catastrophizing and functional self-efficacy mediate pain and disability's relationship in people from a low-income society. Furthermore, effect of pain on fear, catastrophizing and depression was conditional upon spiritual practices, the more a person's spiritual practices the less pain's impact will be on these psychological factors. Moreover, the findings suggest that the integration of pain resilience in the fear avoidance model would help in understanding the mechanisms underlie the development of disability from CLBP and designing targeted interventions. Although, this research is a significant step forward towards understanding the global burden of CLBP, the findings of this thesis are only a piece of the puzzle in the direction of the solution.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English