Article

Chronic pain is prevalent in the western world; however fear of pain often has a
greater impact than the degree of initial injury.
The aim of this study was to
explore the relationship between knowledge of the neurophysiology of pain and
fear avoidance in individuals diagnosed with chronic pain. Twenty-nine people
with chronic musculoskeletal pain were recruited and completed questionnaires to
determine their understanding of pain neurophysiology and the degree of their
fear avoidance beliefs.
There was an inverse relationship between knowledge of
pain neurophysiology and the level of fear avoidance. Patients with higher pain
knowledge reported less fear avoidance and lower perceived disability due to
pain. There was no relationship with the educational level or compensable status
for either variable. The findings suggest that fear avoidance is positively
influenced by neurophysiology of pain education, so that a higher level of pain
knowledge is associated with less activity-related fear. The clinical implication
is that reducing fear avoidance/kinesiophobia using neurophysiology of pain
education in people with chronic pain may provide an effective strategy to help
manage fear avoidance and related disability in the chronic pain population in
order to improve treatment outcomes.

Langue : ANGLAIS