Clinical-demographic factors associated with fear-avoidance in subjects with non-specific chronic low back pain in Primary Care: secondary analysis of intervention study

To describe some sociodemographics and clinical characteristics of subjects with Non-specific Chronic Low Back Pain (NCLBP) in Primary Care, as well as to investigate their association with Fear-Avoidance (FA). Cross-sectional. Secondary analysis of an intervention study. Basic Health Areas in Costa del Sol Health District (Málaga, Spain). An analysis was performed on 147 subjects with NCLBP from a previous intervention study database in Primary Care Physiotherapy (PCP). Characteristics: age 18-65; understanding of the Spanish language; absence of cognitive disorders, fibromyalgia or dorsolumbar surgery, and to be able to perform physical exercise. The main variable was FA level (FABQ and the FABQ-PA and FABQ-W) sub-scales. Clinical variables included: pain (NRPS-11), disability (RMQ), evolution, previous treatments and diagnostic imaging. The sociodemographic variables included: gender, age, educational level, and employment status. Just over half (51.7%) of the subjects had high FA on the FABQ-PA sub-scale. Sick leave (SL) [β=24.45 (P=.009 ); β=13.03 (P=.016 ); β=14.04 (P=.011 ) for FABQ, FABQ-PA and FABQ-W, respectively]; primary studies level [β=15.09 (P=.01 ); β=9.73 (P=.01 ) for FABQ and FABQ-PA], and disability [β=1.45 (P