STUDY DESIGN A quasi-experimental pre/post design. OBJECTIVE To investigate effects of a 2-school-year multifactorial back education program on back posture knowledge and postural behavior in elementary schoolchildren. Additionally, self-reported back or neck pain and fear-avoidance beliefs were evaluated. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Epidemiologic studies report mounting nonspecific back pai...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the short-term effect of physical exercise and a cognitive intervention in low back pain. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. SUBJECTS Ninety-three patients sick-listed for 8-12 weeks for sub-acute low back pain were randomized to an exercise regime (n = 30), a cognitive intervention (n = 34) or a control group (n = 29). METHODS Primary outcome measures were pain, di...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) for use in Norwegian patients with low back pain. DESIGN A prospective cohort study with 2 groups. PATIENTS The questionnaire was tested in 123 patients with acute low back pain and 50 patients with chronic low back pain. METHODS A translation and cross-cultural adaptation was...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Psychological factors are assumed to predict persistent or recurrent musculoskeletal pain. The influence of psychological factors in patients with low-back pain (LBP) or shoulder pain was explored to study whether there is similarity regarding the factors that predict persisting pain and disability. METHODS Patients presenting in primary care with a new episode of sho...

OBJECTIVE To compare measures of disability, psychological factors, pain and physical performance in healthy controls, and patients with sub-acute and chronic low back pain. To evaluate the concept of the deconditioning syndrome and to explore factors that may contribute to chronicity. DESIGN Case-control study. SUBJECTS Three age- and gender-matched groups were included in the study; healt...