Efficacy of cognitive functional therapy in patients with low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Low back pain is a major public health problem worldwide, and there exists evidence that cognitive functional therapy may help improve patients' health condition. However, the utilization of cognitive functional therapy for low back pain is limited, and its clinical efficacy remains unclear.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of cognitive functional therapy in the management of disability, pain intensity, and fear-avoidance beliefs in low back pain patients.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Method: A comprehensive study search of Pubmed, Web of Science, Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library databases was conducted from their inception to August 14th, 2023. Two researchers independently conducted the literature search and data extraction. All statistical analysis was performed using Stata Version 17.0.

Results: A total of eight randomized controlled trials were included. In the short-term, cognitive functional therapy significantly improved disability (7 studies, SMD = -1.05, 95 % CI = -1.74 to -0.35, I² = 95.37 %, GRADE = very low), pain intensity (7 studies, SMD = -1.02, 95 % CI = -1.89 to -0.15, I² = 97.21 %, GRADE = very low), and fear-avoidance beliefs (4 studies, SMD = -0.89, 95 % CI = -1.30 to -0.47, I² = 82.49 %, GRADE = very low). In the medium-term, cognitive functional therapy also significantly improved disability (3 studies, SMD = -0.48, 95 % CI = -0.82 to -0.14, I² = 77.97 %, GRADE = very low), pain intensity (3 studies, SMD = -0.34, 95 % CI = -0.58 to -0.10, I² = 55.55 %, GRADE = very low), and fear-avoidance beliefs (2 studies, SMD = -0.62, 95 % CI = -1.19 to -0.04, I² = 88.24 %, GRADE = very low). In the long-term, cognitive functional therapy significantly improved disability (4 studies, SMD = -0.54, 95 % CI = -0.95 to -0.13, I² = 85.87 %, GRADE = very low) and fear-avoidance beliefs (3 studies, SMD = -0.76, 95 % CI = -1.17 to -0.34, I² = 80.34 %, GRADE = very low).

Conclusion: Cognitive functional therapy might be effective in reducing disability and fear-avoidance beliefs at any of short-, medium- and long-term follow-ups, and reducing pain at short- and medium-term follow-ups. No definitive conclusions can be drawn about the impact of cognitive functional therapy on low back pain patients due to the very low certainty evidence base. Additional rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed to further confirm these findings.

Registration number: CRD42022287123 (PROSPERO).

Keywords: Disability; Fear; Low back pain; Meta-analysis; Pain; Systematic review.