Individuals with chronic low back pain have greater difficulty in engaging in positive lifestyle behaviours than those without back pain: An assessment of health literacy

Background: Despite the large volume of research dedicated to understanding chronic low back pain (CLBP), patient outcomes remain modest while healthcare costs continue to rise, creating a major public health burden. Health literacy - the ability to seek, understand and utilise health information - has been identified as an important factor in the course of other chronic conditions and may be important in the aetiology of CLBP. Many of the currently available health literacy measurement tools are limited since they measure narrow aspects of health literacy. The Health Literacy Measurement Scale (HeLMS) was developed recently to measure broader elements of health literacy. The aim of this study was to measure broad elements of health literacy among individuals with CLBP and without LBP using the HeLMS.Methods: Thirty-six community-dwelling adults with CLBP and 44 with no history of LBP responded to the HeLMS. Individuals were recruited as part of a larger community-based spinal health study in Western Australia. Scores for the eight domains of the HeLMS as well as individual item responses were compared between the groups.Results: HeLMS scores were similar between individuals with and without CLBP for seven of the eight health literacy domains (p &gt; 0.05). However, compared to individuals with no history of LBP, those with CLBP had a significantly lower score in the domain &lsquo;Patient attitudes towards their health&rsquo; (mean difference [95% CI]: 0.46 [0.11- 0.82]) and significantly lower scores for each of the individual items within this domain (p &lt; 0.05). Moderate effect sizes ranged from d = 0.47-0.65.Conclusions: Although no differences were identified in HeLMS scores between the groups for seven of the health literacy domains, adults with CLBP reported greater difficulty in engaging in general positive health behaviours. This aspect of health literacy suggests that self-management support initiatives may benefit individuals with CLBP.<br /

Neuropathic pain in a rehabilitation setting after spinal cord injury: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of inpatients’ experiences

Study design Qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Objectives Neuropathic pain (NP) can be psychologically and physically debilitating, and is present in approximately half of the spinal cord injured (SCI) population. However, under half of those with NP are adherent to pain medication. Understanding the impact of NP during rehabilitation is required to reduce long-term impact and to promote adherence to medication and psychoeducation recommendations. Setting United Kingdom. Methods Five males and three females with SCI and chronic NP, resident in rehabilitation wards at a specialist SCI center in the United Kingdom, took part. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants less than 15 months post-SCI (mean = 8.4 months). Verbatim transcripts were subject to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Results Three super-ordinate themes were identified, mediating pain and adherence: (1) the dichotomy of safety perceptions; (2) adherence despite adversity; and (3) fighting the future. Analyses suggest that experience of the rehabilitation setting and responsiveness of care shapes early distress. Attitudes to medication and psychosocial adjustment are relevant to developing expectations about pain management. Conclusions Enhancing self-efficacy, feelings of safety in hospital, and encouraging the adoption of adaptive coping strategies may enhance psychosocial and pain-related outcomes, and improve adherence to medication. Encouraging adaptive responses to, and interpretation of, pain, through the use of interventions such as coping effectiveness training, targeted cognitive behavioral pain management, and acceptance-based interventions such as mindfulness, is recommended in order to reduce long-term reliance on medication

The experience of low back pain in people with incomplete spinal cord injury in the USA, UK and Greece

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's (EPSRC

Counseling patients about sexual health when considering post-prostatectomy radiation treatment

Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men in the United States. Many men with clinically localized prostate cancer survive for 15 years or more. Although early detection and successful definitive treatments are increasingly common, a debate regarding how aggressively to treat prostate cancer is ongoing because of the effect of aggressive treatment on the quality of life, including sexual functioning. We examined current research on the effect of post-prostatectomy radiation treatment on sexual functioning, and suggest a way in which patient desired outcomes might be taken into consideration while making decisions with regard to the timing of radiation therapy after prostatectomy