Table 5.
Associations between beliefs about back pain and self-reported levels of low back pain intensity and disability
| Participant characteristics | Pain intensity | Disability | ||||||
| Univariable analysis | Multivariable analysis# | Univariable analysis | Multivariable analysis | |||||
| Odds ratio (95% CI) |
p value | Odds ratio (95% CI) |
p value | Odds ratio (95% CI) |
p value | Odds ratio (95% CI) |
p value | |
| Age (years)* | 0.89 (0.78, 1.02) |
0.1 | 0.67 (0.50, 0.89) |
0.007 | 1.08 (0.91, 1.28) |
0.4 | 0.94 (0.66, 1.34) |
0.7 |
| BMI (kg/m2)* | 1.26 (1.07, 1.48) |
0.005 | 1.22 (1.02, 1.45) |
0.03 | 1.73 (1.43, 2.10) |
<0.0001 | 1.61 (1.31, 1.98) |
<0.0001 |
| Smoking status | 1.16 (0.67, 2.00) |
0.6 | 0.99 (0.53, 1.87) |
1.0 | 0.85 (0.42, 1.76) |
0.7 | 0.99 (0.45, 2.16) |
1.0 |
| Alcohol intake | 1.26 (0.81, 1.96) |
0.3 | 1.75 (1.03, 2.97) |
0.04 | 0.69 (0.42, 1.16) |
0.2 | 1.10 (0.58, 2.12) |
0.8 |
| Partner status | 1.28 (0.89, 1.84) |
0.2 | 1.13 (0.74, 1.73) |
0.6 | 1.02 (0.65, 1.61) |
0.9 | 0.99 (0.57, 1.72) |
1.0 |
| Employment status | 0.82 (0.58, 1.17) |
0.3 | 0.62 (0.38, 1.01) |
0.05 | 0.64 (0.41, 0.99) |
0.045 | 0.74 (0.41, 1.35) |
0.3 |
| Menopause status^ | 0.91 (0.64, 1.30) |
0.6 | 1.08 (0.53, 2.19) |
0.8 | 1.19 (0.76, 1.85) |
0.5 | 0.86 (0.36, 2.04) |
0.7 |
| Back pain now | 20.8 (12.1, 35.7) |
<0.0001 | 18.8 (10.3, 34.2) |
<0.0001 | 4.78 (3.03, 7.55) |
<0.0001 | 4.58 (2.71, 7.72) |
<0.0001 |
| Back beliefs score^ | 0.98 (0.96, 1.01) |
0.3 | 1.03 (0.99, 1.07) |
0.1 | 0.91 (0.88, 0.95) |
<0.0001 | 0.93 (0.89, 0.97) |
0.001 |
| Menopause status | Low versus high pain intensity | 3.24 (1.32, 7.96) | 0.01 | |||||
| Back beliefs score | Low versus high pain intensity | 0.93 (0.88, 0.99) | 0.02 | |||||
BMI – Body mass index. CI – confidence intervals. * Odds ratio per 10 year difference in age and 5 kg/m2 difference in BMI. #This multivariable analysis was performed using a partial proportional odds model [15], rather than ordinary ordinal regression [14]. ^ These variables demonstrated a non-parallel relationship with pain intensity, with data representing the comparison between no pain and low intensity pain groups