• Vera Storm.
• Institut für Sportwissenschaften, Abteilung Sportpsychologie, Universität Münster, Horstmarer Landweg 62b, 48149, Münster, Deutschland. vera.storm@uni-muenster.de.
• Schmerz. 2019 Aug 1; 33 (4): 312-319.

BackgroundWork-related fear avoidance beliefs play an important role when considering subjective work ability among people with back pain. Pain-related self-efficacy is known as a predictor for physical activity and subjective work ability.ObjectivesThe present longitudinal study aims to investigate the relationships between work-related fear avoidance beliefs, pain-related self-efficacy, and subjective work ability among back pain patients.Materials And MethodsA total of 93 people with back pain (M = 35.58 years, SD = 13.45; range: 18-69) were assessed at baseline and 4 weeks later. Of the participants, 54.83% (n = 51) were female. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 25 using descriptive statistics and multiple regression methods.ResultsWork-related fear avoidance beliefs were negatively related with subjective work ability at baseline. Pain-related self-efficacy moderated this relationship. The relationship was stronger at low and medium levels of pain-related self-efficacy. The moderation effect was not found when considering subjective work ability after 4 weeks.ConclusionWork-related fear avoidance beliefs among back pain patients seem to be important for subjective work ability in the short term. This especially holds true when patients have low self-efficacy beliefs. The investigated constructs should be emphasized in the patient-centered therapy. Longitudinal studies with larger samples and more frequent follow-ups should be investigated in future studies.

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