Physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs towards chronic low back pain and their association with treatment selection: a cross-sectional study

Objectives The main aim of this study was to investigate physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs towardss non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) and identify whether they are associated with treatment selection. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Saudi Arabia (SA). Participants An online survey was distributed to physiotherapists from April 2018 to January 2019. Primary and secondary outcome measures (1) Biomedical and biopsychosocial treatment orientations were assessed using the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists. (2) Frequent potential treatments used by physiotherapists for individuals with NSCLBP were identified through a 20-item survey. (3) The association between physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs and treatment selection was investigated. Descriptive analysis, Pearson's correlation and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyse the data using SPSS (V.26). Results A total of 304 responses were included in the analysis. The biomedical (34.457.84) and biopsychosocial (31.745.67) treatment orientations were relatively low. The most frequent treatments used by physiotherapists were home exercises (87.1%), patient education (82.0%), specific back exercises (80.6%), electrotherapy (61.9%), soft tissue release (58.8%) and spinal mobilisation or manipulation (57.8%). Physiotherapists with a stronger biomedical treatment orientation were more likely to use treatments (p<0.05) such as specific back exercises, electrotherapy, soft tissue release, hydrotherapy, massage, lumbar supports and acupuncture. However, physiotherapists with a stronger biopsychosocial treatment orientation were more likely to use cognitive functional therapy (p<0.01). Conclusions Biomedical and biopsychosocial treatment orientations were relatively low among physiotherapists in SA. Although treatments such as home exercises and patient education were frequently used, some passive and traditional treatments not recommended by clinical practice guidelines continue to be commonly used by physiotherapists in SA. This study has confirmed that physiotherapists' pain attitudes and beliefs are significantly associated with treatment selection when managing individuals with NSCLBP. Trial registration number Researchregistry3944.