• Arnela Suman, Geoffrey P Bostick, Donald Schopflocher, Anthony S Russell, Robert Ferrari, Michele C Battié, Richard Hu, Rachelle Buchbinder, and Douglas P Gross.
• Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Eur Spine J. 2017 Sep 1; 26 (9): 2467-2474.

PurposeThis paper evaluates the long-term impact of a Canadian mass media campaign on general public beliefs about staying active when experiencing low back pain (LBP).MethodsChanges in beliefs about staying active during an episode of LBP were studied using telephone and web-based surveys. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate changes in beliefs over time and the effect of exposure to campaign messaging.ResultsThe percentage of survey respondents agreeing that they should stay active through LBP increased annually from 58.9 to ~72.0%. Respondents reporting exposure to campaign messaging were statistically significantly more likely to agree with staying active than respondents who did not report exposure to campaign messaging (adjusted OR, 95% CI = 1.96, 1.73-2.21).ConclusionThe mass media campaign had continued impact on public LBP beliefs over the course of 7 years. Improvements over time were associated with exposure to campaign messaging.

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