In patients with (chronic) Low Back Pain (LBP), pain-related fear or kinesiophobia is possibly one of the most prominent psychological factors underlying chronicity. Identification of kinesiophobia is mostly based on clinical perception during the clinical reasoning process, without the use of validated measures. For physical therapists (PTs) working in primary care, very often there is only limited information available about the course of musculoskeletal pain, particularly in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP). Referral data are often superficial or the patient is the only source of information.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the estimation scores and score accuracy with which PTs in primary care identify kinesiophobia in patients with LBP, using a Visual Analogue Scale for estimation (VAS-est) and for accuracy (VAS-ac), and the patients’ self-reported measures of kinesiophobia, using Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK).
The association between PT’s estimation of patient’s kinesiophobia and patient’s self-reported kinesiophobia were rated as fair.
We would encourage PTs not to rely solely on their personal clinical perception of a patient’s kinesiophobia, but also to use validated self-reported measures such as the TSK-17 to supplement their clinical judgment.
> From: Oostendorp et al., J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil 30 (2017-12-20 08:09:31) 1273-1284 . All rights reserved to . Click here for the online summary.