Fear of Movement Is Related to Low Back Disability During a Two-Year Period in Patients Who Have Undergone Elective Lumbar Spine Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate change in fear of movement and the relationship of fear of movement and pain intensity to low back disability and general health-related quality of life over a 2-year period.

METHODS: Consecutive patients scheduled for lumbar spine surgery were included. In addition to clinical background variables, back pain intensity, fear of movement, low back disability, and general health-related quality of life were assessed at baseline, 1 year, and 2 years after surgery. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze data.

RESULTS: In total, 348 patients were included in the final analyses. There was a significant reduction in fear of movement and a significant interaction between fear of movement and low back disability across assessments, showing that greater levels of fear of movement were related to greater levels of disability over the 2-year period. Similarly, greater levels of back pain intensity were related to lower levels of general health-related quality of life during this period.

CONCLUSIONS: We found that greater levels of fear of movement were related to greater levels of low back disability, following lumbar spine surgery, in a longitudinal study. This shows the need to address fear of movement in prehabilitation/rehabilitation pre- or postsurgically to improve health outcomes for patients who undergo lumbar spine surgery.