Abstract
Aim To analyze the correlation between pain, range of motion and disability of chronic low back pain patients coming from a public Primary Care service. Material and methods Descriptive study carried out in a primary care rehabilitation service of the Institut Català de la Salut. A total of 143 patients with chronic low back pain (more than 3 months), both genders and ages between 18 and 65 years were included. Pain (Visual Analog Scale), disability (Roland-Morris's Disability Questionnaire) and range of mobility in flexion, extension and side bending were measured. Results Pain shows a significant correlation with disability (r=0.37), range of motion in extension (r=−0.23) and side bending (r between −0.18 and −0.23) but not with flexion or the other demographic variables. Disability shows a statistically significant correlation with pain, range of motion in all directions (r between −0.19 and −0.33), age (r=0.26) and symptoms duration (r=0.21). It also shows significant differences depending on gender (p<0.05) and work situation (p<0.01). Conclusions Correlations between pain, range of motion and disability, although significant, are weak, so they must be considered as independent variables. To achieve better results in the conservative treatment of chronic low-back pain, analgesic drugs must be complemented with physical therapy and ergotherapy.
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