The Influence of Clinical, Functional, and Psychosocial Factors on Walking Time in Individuals With Chronic Low Back Pain

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether clinical, functional, and psychosocial factors are associated with walking time in patients with chronic low back pain. Methods: This study included patients aged ≥18 years with low back pain for at least 3 months who visited our outpatient clinic between October 2017 and February 2018. We used the following scales/questionnaires: International Physical Activity Questionnaire for self-reported walking time, Numerical Pain Rating Scale for pain intensity, self-report assessing symptom duration, Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire for disability, Patient-Specific Functional Scale for function, Pain Catastrophizing Scale for pain catastrophizing, and screening questions to assess depression and anxiety. Odds ratios (ORs) with their respective 95% CIs were obtained using logistic regression analysis. Results: Neither clinical nor functional factors were associated with the total walking time. Among psychosocial factors, only anxiety showed a negative association with the total walking time (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.82)—an association that persisted even after adjusting for confounders (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.77). Conclusion: Anxiety was shown to be associated with the total walking time in patients with CLBP. No clinical or functional factors seem to be associated with walking in this study sample.