A Comparison of Disability, Emotional Status, and Physical Activity Level According to the Pain Activity Pattern in Chronic Low Back and Neck Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: The study's purpose was to compare disability, emotional status, and physical activity level based on pain activity pattern (PAP) (avoiding, overdoing, and pacing) in chronic low back pain (CLBP) and chronic neck pain (CNP). Material and Methods: 103 patients with CLBP and 66 with CNP were involved in the study. PAPs, emotional status, physical activity level, and disability were evaluated with the Patterns of Activity Measure-Pain (POAM-P), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Neck Disability Index (NDI); respectively. Patients were divided into avoidance, overdoing, and pacing groups based on POAM-P subscale dominance. Results: The prominent PAP in CLBP was avoidance, whereas the dominant PAP was overdoing in CNP. The pacing was the least reported pattern in both. The ODI (p=0.229), HADS-A (anxiety), and HADS-D (depression) (p=0.619, p=0.580), and IPAQ scores (p=0.972) were similar between avoiding, overdoing, and pacing groups in patients with CLBP. The scores of NDI (p=0.294), HADS-A (p=0.801), HADS-D (p=0.817), and IPAQ (p=0.726) were similar among avoiding, overdoing, and pacing groups in CNP. Conclusion: Disability, emotional status, and physical activity level were similar among patients with avoiding, overdoing, and pacing PAPs in CLBP and CNP. Therefore, PAPs may not directly affect disability, emotional status, or physical activity level. In clinical practice, the treatment strategies to improve disability, emotional disorders, and physical inactivity in CLBP and CNP may be considered independently of PAPs.