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

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Leon M Straker¹  Richard H Osborne⁴  Angus F Burnett²  Rachelle Buchbinder³  Peter B O'Sullivan¹  Joanne E Jordan¹  Andrew M Briggs¹ 

[1] School of Physiotherapy and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Australia;School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia;Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology at Cabrini Hospital, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia;Public Health Innovation, Deakin Population Health Strategic Research Centre, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Australia

关键词: self-management;    HeLMS;    health information;    low back pain;    health literacy;   

Others  :  1152709
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2474-12-161

 received in 2011-01-27, accepted in 2011-07-15,  发布年份 2011

【 摘 要 】

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 > 0.05). However, compared to individuals with no history of LBP, those with CLBP had a significantly lower score in the domain 'Patient attitudes towards their health' (mean difference [95% CI]: 0.46 [0.11-0.82]) and significantly lower scores for each of the individual items within this domain (p < 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.

【 授权许可】

   
2011 Briggs et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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