Fear avoidance beliefs, pain-related self-efficacy, and subjective work ability among back pain patients A pilot study with voluntary subjects

Background Work-related fear avoidance beliefs play an important role when considering subjective work ability among people with back pain. Pain-related self-efficacy is known as a predictor for physical activity and subjective work ability. Objectives The present longitudinal study aims to investigate the relationships between work-related fear avoidance beliefs, pain-related self-efficacy, and subjective work ability among back pain patients. Materials and methods A total of 93 people with back pain (M= 35.58 years, SD= 13.45; range: 18-69) were assessed at baseline and 4 weeks later. Of the participants, 54.83% (n= 51) were female. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 25 using descriptive statistics and multiple regression methods. Results Work-related fear avoidance beliefs were negatively related with subjective work ability at baseline. Pain-related self-efficacy moderated this relationship. The relationship was stronger at low and medium levels of pain-related self-efficacy. The moderation effect was not found when considering subjective work ability after 4 weeks. Conclusion Work-related fear avoidance beliefs among back pain patients seem to be important for subjective work ability in the short term. This especially holds true when patients have low self-efficacy beliefs. The investigated constructs should be emphasized in the patient-centered therapy. Longitudinal studies with larger samples and more frequent follow-ups should be investigated in future studies.