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Fear-Avoidance Beliefs, Kinesiophobia, and Disability Risk Among Indians with Spine Pain

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the burden of fear-avoidance beliefs (FAB), kinesiophobia, and risk of persistent disability among Indians with spine pain.

Methods

Demographic and clinical data collected from 139 patients who attended a spine rehabilitation clinic for assessment and treatment of their spine pain were analyzed. Fear-avoidance beliefs, kinesiophobia, and risk of persistent disability were measured using the Fear-avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), and the STarT Back Tool (SBT). A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the effect of pain, disability, age, gender, BMI, lifestyle, pain duration, and pain location on FAB, TSK, and SBT scores.

Results

A majority of patients had medium to high-risk FAB-physical activities (FAB-P) (50.5%) and SBT (54%) scores. The percentage of patients with medium or high-risk FAB-P (p = 0.03), FAB-work (FAB-W) (p = 0.03), and SBT (p = 0.03) scores were significantly higher in patients with pain score > 7, and the percentage of patients with medium or high-risk with FAB-P (p < 0.0001), TSK (p = 0.0003), and SBT (p < 0.0001) scores were significantly higher in patients with severe, crippled or bed-ridden disability. Disability was the only significant predictor for FAB-W, FAB-P, and SBT scores.

Conclusion

The prevalence of fear-avoidance beliefs and risk of persistent disability was significant among Indians and should be taken into account while planning treatment for their spine pain.

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Funding

No benefits or funds were received in support of this study by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. QI Spine Clinic, Dwarka, New Delhi, India

    Kriti Khanna, Shikha Jain & Nishtha Rahlan

  2. QI Spine Clinic, Mumbai, India

    Gautam Shetty

  3. AIMD Research, Mumbai, India

    Gautam Shetty

  4. I.T.S College of Physiotherapy, Ghaziabad, India

    C. S. Ram

  5. QI India Healthcare, #6 Level 2 Phoenix Market City, LBS Road, Kamani, Kurla (West), Mumbai, 400070, India

    Gautam Shetty

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  1. Kriti Khanna
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  2. Shikha Jain
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Correspondence to Gautam Shetty.

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Khanna, K., Jain, S., Shetty, G. et al. Fear-Avoidance Beliefs, Kinesiophobia, and Disability Risk Among Indians with Spine Pain. JOIO 56, 1782–1788 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43465-022-00692-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43465-022-00692-7

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