Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Nov;131(21-22):541-549.
doi: 10.1007/s00508-019-01542-7. Epub 2019 Sep 6.

Association between low back pain and various everyday performances : Activities of daily living, ability to work and sexual function

Igor Grabovac  1 , Thomas Ernst Dorner  2
Affiliations
Review

Association between low back pain and various everyday performances : Activities of daily living, ability to work and sexual function

Igor Grabovac et al. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is a widely prevalent chronic pain disorder associated with a high burden on individuals and society. In the subjective perception of patients with LBP, probably the most important health outcomes associated with LBP are those that effect everyday performance. Such outcomes include reduction in activities of daily living (ADL), in work ability (WA), and in sexual function. This narrative review aimed to (1) examine the association between LBP and the three mentioned outcomes of everyday performance, (2) to explain possible mediating factors promoting these associations, and (3) to discuss possible implications for treatment and rehabilitation. Studies have shown that LBP can generate anxiety of movement leading to movement avoidance (fear-avoidance beliefs), which may lead to deconditioning and further increasing problems with ADL, WA and decreasing sexual function. Furthermore, common mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, which also often co-occur with LBP can lead to adverse effects on everyday performance and vice versa, can be the consequence of such problems and aggravate LBP. Although there is no universally accepted treatment modality that fits every patient with LBP, physical training, comprehensive patient education, and workplace or home modifications have been shown to be able to interrupt the mutual influence between LBP and the described mediating factors, and have a beneficial effect on ADL, WA, and sexual function. For this, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary which includes multiprofessional care teams, participation of the patients, and involvement of different settings, such as workplace, home, and physical training facilities.

Keywords: Activities of daily living; Everyday functioning; Low back pain; Sexual function; Work ability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I. Grabovac and T.E. Dorner declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mediating factors between low back pain and adveres effects on everyday performances
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, et al. The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014;73(6):968–974. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204428. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Maher C, Underwood M, Buchbinder R. Non-specific low back pain. Lancet. 2017;389(10070):736–747. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30970-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . Low back pain. 0000.
    1. Hoy D, Toole MJ, Morgan D, et al. Low back pain in rural Tibet. Lancet. 2003;361(9353):225–226. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12254-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Choi BK, Verbeek JH, Tam WW, et al. Exercises for prevention of recurrences of low-back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006555.pub2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed