The following is a summary of “Influence of central aspects of pain on self-management in people with chronic low back pain,” published in the December 2023 issue of Primary Care by Georgopoulos et al.

The objective of this observational study was to examine the potential linkage between central pain aspects and self-management domains in individuals coping with chronic low back pain (CLBP) while engaged in a pain management program. A cohort of participants with CLBP provided pain sensitivity and self-management data at baseline (n=97) and after a span of 3 months (n=87). Factors considered as central aspects of pain included pressure pain detection threshold (PPT) at the forearm, temporal summation (TS), conditioned pain modulation (CPM), Widespread Pain Index (WPI), and a Central Aspects of Pain factor (CAPf). The assessment of self-management utilized the Health Education Impact Questionnaire’s 8 domains, alongside Pain Self-Efficacy and Health Care Utilization questionnaires.

Findings unveiled that at the 3-month mark, PPT, CPM, WPI, and CAPf significantly predicted diminished performance across various self-management domains (ranging from r=0.21 to 0.54, p<0.05 overall). Multivariable regression models, adjusted for baseline scores of self-management, depression, catastrophization, pain, and fatigue, revealed that lower PPT, higher TS, and elevated CAPf at baseline forecasted poorer self-management outcomes at the 3-month assessment (R2=0.14 to 0.52, β=-0.37 to 0.35, p<0.05).

The study’s outcomes suggest a notable association between central aspects of pain and impaired self-management, indicating their influence beyond the impact of pain intensity, fatigue, depression, and catastrophizing.

 Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738399123004901