Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.

Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of chronic disability and is predicted to escalate in the next 20 years globally. Fear Avoidance Beliefs (FAB) are one of the most important factors associated with low back pain outcomes, including the first onset of back pain, pain intensity, pain episodes,...

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Main Authors: Tsit Yu Serena Chow, Chinonso Nwamaka Igwesi-Chidobe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323955
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author Tsit Yu Serena Chow
Chinonso Nwamaka Igwesi-Chidobe
author_facet Tsit Yu Serena Chow
Chinonso Nwamaka Igwesi-Chidobe
author_sort Tsit Yu Serena Chow
collection DOAJ
description Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of chronic disability and is predicted to escalate in the next 20 years globally. Fear Avoidance Beliefs (FAB) are one of the most important factors associated with low back pain outcomes, including the first onset of back pain, pain intensity, pain episodes, disability and quality of life. With the prevalence rate of low back pain in young adults increasing exponentially, the factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among university students in the United Kingdom (UK) are currently unknown. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among UK university students with low back pain. An online cross-sectional study will be conducted. University students with low back pain in the UK will be recruited through university contacts and social media of the 131 universities in the UK. The online survey will collect demographic information (sex, age, ethnicity, religion, the regional location of the university, the faculty the participant is currently studying in, working status and hours of work), perceived cause of LBP, severity of pain, pain site and symptoms, pain duration, previous surgeries in the lower back area, treatment received for low back pain, the experience of seeing family members/ significant others with disabling low back pain, advice received from others, physical activity levels, mental health status and disability levels, and fear avoidance beliefs will be collected. Descriptive analysis (frequencies and percentages, means and standard deviations, median and interquartile range) will summarise data. Correlation analysis will be used to assess bivariate associations between variables. Multiple linear regression analysis will determine the factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs.
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spelling doaj-art-bdcfdcbacf9a48cda3fc618b7f171ef92025-08-20T02:26:10ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01205e032395510.1371/journal.pone.0323955Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.Tsit Yu Serena ChowChinonso Nwamaka Igwesi-ChidobeLow back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of chronic disability and is predicted to escalate in the next 20 years globally. Fear Avoidance Beliefs (FAB) are one of the most important factors associated with low back pain outcomes, including the first onset of back pain, pain intensity, pain episodes, disability and quality of life. With the prevalence rate of low back pain in young adults increasing exponentially, the factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among university students in the United Kingdom (UK) are currently unknown. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among UK university students with low back pain. An online cross-sectional study will be conducted. University students with low back pain in the UK will be recruited through university contacts and social media of the 131 universities in the UK. The online survey will collect demographic information (sex, age, ethnicity, religion, the regional location of the university, the faculty the participant is currently studying in, working status and hours of work), perceived cause of LBP, severity of pain, pain site and symptoms, pain duration, previous surgeries in the lower back area, treatment received for low back pain, the experience of seeing family members/ significant others with disabling low back pain, advice received from others, physical activity levels, mental health status and disability levels, and fear avoidance beliefs will be collected. Descriptive analysis (frequencies and percentages, means and standard deviations, median and interquartile range) will summarise data. Correlation analysis will be used to assess bivariate associations between variables. Multiple linear regression analysis will determine the factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323955
spellingShingle Tsit Yu Serena Chow
Chinonso Nwamaka Igwesi-Chidobe
Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.
PLoS ONE
title Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.
title_full Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.
title_fullStr Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.
title_full_unstemmed Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.
title_short Factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among University students with Low Back Pain in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey study protocol.
title_sort factors associated with fear avoidance beliefs among university students with low back pain in the united kingdom a cross sectional survey study protocol
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323955
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AT chinonsonwamakaigwesichidobe factorsassociatedwithfearavoidancebeliefsamonguniversitystudentswithlowbackpainintheunitedkingdomacrosssectionalsurveystudyprotocol