Back Beliefs Among the General Population

Overview

In the current study we aim to evaluate the effects of a short educational video on improving the belief that "the back is fragile and needs to be protected" among the German speaking Swiss general population. We hypothesize that a short video education program can positively change the assessed back belief among the German speaking general population of Switzerland. To evaluate the outcomes, we will use the 10-item version of the Back Pain Attitude Questionnaire (Back-PAQ). The primary outcome is the second question of the Back-PAQ-10 ("You could injure your back if you are not careful"). The secondary outcome of this study is the total score of the Back-PAQ-10. The design of the present study is a two-group randomized controlled trial, with one intervention and one control group in a 1:1 allocation.

This study will be conducted in collaboration with HESAV (Haute Ecole de Sante Vaud). The research group at the HESAV has developed an educational website in 2020, called "www.infomaldedos.ch". The website aims to educate people on low back pain, and common unhelpful beliefs about the back - primarily targeting the belief about the fragility of the back and the need for its protection - are addressed. In the current study we are going to translate the above-mentioned website to the German language. Furthermore, we are going to assess the quality and applicability of a short video intervention among the general population, using one of the videos from the website. Participants will be recruited through social media and emails. A link will be created to the questionnaire and the educational video with LimeSurvey. A 'randomizer' built-in function will be used to blindly split people into intervention or control group. The link will be spread on social media platforms and through email. To induce a snowball sampling method, all participants will be asked to send the link further. The length of the video intervention is 3 minutes. In the video, health care professionals, such as a psychologist, a medical doctor, a professor, and physiotherapist interviewed by a scientist explains the burden of LBP, how unhelpful beliefs affect treatment outcome, difficulties in the management of LBP and the optimal way of treating LBP. The scientist then inquires a representative patient about their own experiences of the management of LBP. At the end of the video the scientist encourages people to exercise despite LBP by performing various movements. The control group will receive a neutral video about the back, selected from YouTube.