Association Between Low Back Pain and Biomedical Beliefs in Academics of Physiotherapy, 2020, Gomes et al

Andy

Retired committee member
Abstract
Study Design.
Observational cross-sectional study.

Objective.
To analyse the association between low back pain and biomedical beliefs in physiotherapy students of the first and last year.

Summary of Background Data.
There is a hypothesis that the presence of low back pain may be a risk factor for biomedical beliefs in physiotherapy academics.

Methods.
Three hundred and sixty five students of first and last year of the physiotherapy course from three universities in city of Fortaleza completed a questionnaire with sociodemographic factors and a Pain Attitude and Beliefs Scale used to determine the orientation (biopsychosocial or biomedical approach) of practitioners to the management of people with low back pain.

Results.
The mean age of participants was 23.57 ± 4.77 years, with a predominance of females (80,27%, n = 239). 23.84% reported low back pain, 18.9% had undergone imaging tests at the site and 36.71% reported that family members with low back pain also underwent these exams. The means of the biopsychosocial subscale of the PABS.PT corresponded to 20.19 and 20.63 in the first and last year academics, respectively, while the biomedical subscale corresponded to 32.10 and 32.73 in the first and last year academics, respectively. There was no statistical difference between the scores of the first and last year students. Linear regression analyses showed that low back pain was associated with lower levels of biomedical beliefs in the students of the last year (beta coefficient = -2.17, 95% CI = -3.95 to -0.3, p = 0.02). We did not find association between low back pain and levels of biomedical beliefs in academics of both years as well as with academics of the first year. Also, we did not find association between low back pain and levels of biopsychosocial beliefs.

Conclusion.
First and last year physical therapy students did not present a difference between biomedical and biopsychosocial beliefs. Although biomedical beliefs were prevalent in both groups, the academics of the last year who had low back pain presented lower levels of biomedical beliefs than the academics of the last year without low back symptoms.
Level of Evidence: 4
Open access, https://journals.lww.com/spinejourn...tween_Low_Back_Pain_and_Biomedical.94247.aspx
 
Starting to get really hard to tell whether studies like this are actually serious or an experiment in trying to get nonsense published.

It does seem that all that mind-body split has accomplished is to somehow normalize the validity of beliefs in medical practice, that there are in fact beliefs that are superior to others and, somehow, that beliefs can be "measured", even compared.

To be fair, beliefs are absolutely a thing in medical practice and a serious problem with horrible consequences but the discussion is not about that at all, rather seems to be that BPS beliefs should be considered superior and deviation from this belief system is basically wrong and abnormal. Which seems to show an understanding that BPS is a belief system, but rather this being an issue it just reframes science-based medicine as being an opposing belief and as such on equal footing.

I'd much rather there be no beliefs at all, that science and objective evidence speak for themselves in a self-correcting process that reduces biases and conflicts as much as possible. But what the hell do I know, I guess arguing about the personality and motivations of imaginary angels dancing on holistic hairpins is the new medicine. For a while anyway.
 
What does this even mean? Google translate???

That if you don't have lower back pain then you are unlikely to believe in biomedicine?
I interpret it as meaning that suffering from chronic back pain is a "risk factor" in believing it has a physiological/biomedical cause and mechanism. Which is true, but a serious problem for BPS ideology, which both places the subjective experience as being the only thing happening but also dismisses all subjective experience that contradicts their beliefs.

Something we glimpsed in some of the BPS quacks saying Ron Davis was likely too biased to do his research because Whitney being sick is likely a contributing factor in Davis's "belief" that his son is actually sick, rather than... confused... or whatever it is those people truly believe.

Which all goes down to Wessely's "strength of belief" being the main "factor", oblivious to the fact that it actually shows patients are relatively capable of assessing their impairment, but twisted into being a belief because that's what BPS beliefs require to be true to be perceived as valid.

Basically it promotes the idea that detached, unbiased, scientists will adopt BPS beliefs because they are superior and that "belief" in... objective reality and science, I guess... is itself a belief that misses out on the superior model of mind-body split.
 
Wow, I think this study deserves a price for most ridiculous study:banghead::laugh:

Low back pain is such a prevalent problem, so much waste of healthy years and a very large economic waste as well. This way of thinking just keeps turning in circles and circles. There was one "biomedical" idea that was popular for a long time (pain is directly linked with damage we see on scans), that turned out to be a very expensive and not extremely useful idea. So now we turn it all around and back pain is fully (bio)psychosocial and people are still not being helped at all. "Because biomedical thinking didn't help either". As if there is only one biomedical solution and if that doesn't pan out, there is nothing else:banghead::banghead:

You see the same thing over and over with me/cfs. Oh the rituximab study didn't pan out, so that means "biomedical thinking didn't help" and we must be using CBT and GET after all:nailbiting::banghead::facepalm:
 
i just don't really get the concept of something, much less back pain, being a "risk factor" for having biomedical beliefs. and that biomedical beliefs are I guess defined as bad. it's very perverse.
Because there is no diseasewar in Ba-Sing-Seback pain, only Zuulstrength of belief.

Put another way, once you get the back pains, you are one of them. You know, them, those patients.
 
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