Beliefs; Ergonomics; Health care professionals; Lifting; Low back pain; Back Pain; Humans; Surveys and Questionnaires; Low Back Pain; Physical Therapists; Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation
Abstract :
[en] [en] BACKGROUND: A common misconception about low back pain (LBP) is that the spine is weak and that lumbar flexion should be avoided. Because the beliefs of health-care professionals (HCPs) influence patients, it is important to understand the attitudes of health care professionals towards LBP and lifting.
OBJECTIVES: To assess and compare the perceptions of different categories of HCPs regarding the safety of specific movement strategies used to lift a light load, and their beliefs regarding back pain. The secondary aim was to determine whether certain factors influenced the beliefs of HCPs.
METHODS: Data were collected via an electronic survey. Student and qualified physical therapists (PTs), medical students, and general practitioner (GP) trainees were included. The questionnaire included eight photographs, depicting eight different strategies to lift a light load. Respondents were requested to select the strategy(s) they considered as "unsafe" to use for asymptomatic people with a previous history of LBP and people with chronic LBP. Beliefs and attitudes towards LBP were evaluated using the Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire (Back-PAQ).
RESULTS: Questionnaires from 1005 participants were included. Seventy percent of qualified PTs considered none of the strategies as harmful (versus 32% of PT students, 9% of GP trainees and 1% of medical students). Qualified PTs had higher Back-PAQ scores (mean ± SD: 13.6 ± 5.5) than PT students (8.7 ± 5.7), GP trainees (5.9 ± 5.9) and medical students (4.1 ± 5.2), indicating less misconceptions regarding LBP. Having LBP negatively influenced beliefs while taking a pain education course positively influenced beliefs.
CONCLUSION: Misconceptions regarding LBP and the harmfulness of lifting a light load with a rounded back remain common among HCPs, particularly medical doctors.
Disciplines :
Orthopedics, rehabilitation & sports medicine
Author, co-author :
Rialet-Micoulau, Joséphine; Clinical Research Institute, Neuro-musculo-skeletal Lab (NMSK), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
Lucas, Valoris; Clinical Research Institute, Neuro-musculo-skeletal Lab (NMSK), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
Demoulin, Christophe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la motricité > Kinésithérapie spécifique et réadaptation motrice
Pitance, Laurent ; Clinical Research Institute, Neuro-musculo-skeletal Lab (NMSK), Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: laurent.pitance@uclouvain.be
Language :
English
Title :
Misconceptions of physical therapists and medical doctors regarding the impact of lifting a light load on low back pain.
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