title: A new episode of low back pain: who relies on bed rest?
abstract: Bed rest has been shown to be an ineffective treatment for non-specific low back pain (LBP). Despite this, during a new episode of pain some patients still rely on bed rest. Which patients choose bed rest is however unknown. The objectives of the present study were, firstly, to assess characteristics of patients choosing bed rest in (sub)acute pain and secondly to study whether prolonged bed rest in the (sub)acute phase of pain will result in long term disability. A prospective longitudinal cohort study included 282 patients with non-specific LBP for less than 7 weeks. Main outcome measures were duration of bed rest (in three categories) and disability. Results showed that 33% of patients with (sub)acute LBP had bed rest, but only 8% stayed in bed for more than four days. An ordinal regression analysis revealed that behavioural factors (catastrophizing (OR=1.05 per bed rest category p<0.01)) and fear of injury (OR=1.05 per category p<0.01) rather than specific pain related factors (pain history (OR=0.61 per category p=0.16) and pain intensity (OR=1.00 per category p=0.63)) were associated with bed rest. Patients with prolonged bed rest in an early phase of pain were still more disabled after one year (p<0.01). Based on these results we conclude that prolonged bed rest in the early phase of pain is associated with a higher long term disability level. In preventing low back disability, GP screening for catastrophizing and fear of injury in LBP patients who had prolonged bed rest merits consideration.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Foundation Limburg, P.O. Box 88, 6430 AB Hoensbroek, The Netherlands. j.verbunt@srl.nl
authors.forename: Jeanine A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Verbunt
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sieben
authors.forename: Johan W S
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vlaeyen
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Portegijs
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: André Knottnerus
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001510:Bed Rest / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires