Does Kinesiophobia Mediate the Relationship between Pain Intensity and Disability in Individuals with Chronic Low-Back Pain and Obesity?

• Main Authors: Giorgia Varallo, Federica Scarpina, Emanuele Maria Giusti, Roberto Cattivelli, Anna Guerrini Usubini, Paolo Capodaglio, Gianluca Castelnuovo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Brain Sciences
• Subjects: chronic low-back pain; disability; kinesiophobia; fear of movement; fear-avoidance model; obesity
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/6/684

Individuals suffering from chronic low-back pain and obesity face severe physical and functional limitations. According to the fear-avoidance model, kinesiophobia might play a crucial role in the relationship between pain intensity and disability. Thus, the purpose of this study was to verify the role of kinesiophobia as a mediator in the association between pain intensity and disability in individuals with both chronic low-back pain and obesity. A total of 213 individuals with chronic low-back pain and obesity were included in the study. The level of kinesiophobia, pain intensity and disability were all assessed using self-reported questionnaires. We verified through a simple mediation analysis that kinesiophobia partially mediated the association between pain intensity and disability in our sample. According to our findings, we emphasize the crucial role of kinesiophobia as a psychological factor that should be addressed in chronic low-back pain rehabilitative protocols to reduce disability in individuals with obesity.