Pain Intensity, Attitude and Function in Back Pain Patients

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Abstract
Treatment success when working with patients with pain has, very often, been considered in terms of decreases in pain intensity. Yet one of the major goals of intervention with patients with chronic, non‐cancer pain, is to effect an improvement in functional status. In the present study of 50 patients with chronic, low back pain, the relationships between pain intensity, functional status and attitudes and beliefs about pain were explored. No significant correlations were found between pain intensity and functional status, while significant correlations were found between functional status and attitudes towards and beliefs about pain. Patients attitudes and beliefs about pain were positively associated with their level of perceived function/dysfunction. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that assessment of patients' attitudes and beliefs be included as a part of assessment practices, and that treatment interventions, designed to improve function rather than merely reduce pain intensity, be developed in light of these assessment findings.