Kinesiophobia in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: an Evaluation on Relevant Factors and Its Effects on Quality of Life

Approximately 200 patients with chronic low back pain lasting ≥12 weeks between the ages of 18-75 who applied to the outpatient clinic will be included in the study. Demographic data of the patients such as age, gender, body mass index and occupation will be recorded. The pain intensity of the patients will be evaluated with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), their disability with the Oswestry disability index, their kinesiophobia with the Tampo scale for kinesiophobia (TSK), and their quality of life with the SF 36 quality of life scale. TSK is a 17-question scale developed to measure the fear of movement/re-injury. The scale has four answer options rated on a Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly Agree). The total score varies between 17 and 68. Oswestry disability index will be used to measure the person's level of functional disability in individuals with low back pain. Oswestry disability index includes ten subheadings: severity of pain, personal care, lifting loads, walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, sexual life, social life and travel. Each question is given a score between 0 (no disability) and 5 (full disability). The total score varies between 0 (no disability) and 50 (full disability). As the total score increases, functional status worsens. SF-36 short form index will be used to measure quality of life. SF 36 Short form is a questionnaire that provides wide-angle measurement within the quality of life scales and has a generic criterion feature. It consists of 36 questions in 8 categories under the headings of physical function, physical role difficulty, social function, mental health, vitality, pain, emotional role difficulty and general health. The answers to the questions are added as positive and negative and the total score varies between 0 and 100. A high score indicates good health.