(191) - Driving behavior in chronic low back pain: a preliminary self-report study

Abstract

CLBP is one of the most common and costly medical conditions in the US, with a three month prevalence of about one-third. In addition to CLBP's sensory and emotional effects, pain demands attention in order to warn of bodily harm and prevent further injury. Although this is a functional response in the short term in chronic states, this pain attention can become debilitating, interfering with normal cognitive processes, and could potentially interfere with common daily tasks. The effect of pain on daily cognitive tasks has been considered in a number of domains, however, the key task of driving is presently underrepresented. Millions of US citizens are injured in car crashes annually, but it is not known if pain patients are at greater risk or how these individuals experience the task of driving. Three hundred and fifteen CLBP patients (159 female, Mage 35.16 years, SD 10.52) were given an online survey and compensated through Mturk. Self-reported pain and vehicle collisions over the past year were taken from the survey, as were measures of driving behavior, mood, and cognition. Findings suggested that pain was not associated with vehicle collisions. However, patients did report feeling more distracted, irritable, and impatient behind the wheel with increasing pain intensity. While collisions were not found to be associated with chronic low back pain, there is still a need to understand how driving experience is different for these patients. Further research is needed to more adequately study techniques performed by these patients while driving to combat their pain, such as sitting posture. The results show that certain cognitive processes and emotional states are associated with pain, so a better understanding of chronic low back pain patients' driving experience is paramount in developing new strategies to help lessen the impact of chronic low back pain on the driver.