Abstract

Abstract

Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is a common health problem and a major cause for patients to seek care in primary setting. Many beliefs related to it can lead to disability and chronicity. The current study aimed to assess LBP beliefs and their effect on health seeking behavior.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at primary health care center (PHCC) clinics during the period of October 25, 2016 to January 12, 2017, included all adults (18 years and older) with or without LBP visited the clinics during the study period, using the Arabic version of Back Belief Questionnaire (BBQ). Study sample was 423. Analysis was done using SPSS for windows version 20. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA were used to show frequency distribution and association.

Results: Life-time LBP was found at 75.4%, and last week LBP at 45.9%. A total of 35% visited modern healers, while 37.1% did not seek any help for their pain. The mean belief score was 29.7±6.5, which was more negative among educated people (p=0.010). There was no association between back beliefs and history of LBP or seeking care to modern healers.

Conclusion: Adult's beliefs are not related to the decision to seek care, and are not differed by seeking proper care. 

Keywords:  Low Back Pain, Beliefs, Health Seeking Behaviors, Yemen. 

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