EFFECT OF AN EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUBJECTIVE PAIN AND DISABILITY MEASURES IN NURSES WITH LOW-BACK INJURY

Study Design. The effect of a workplace-based early intervention progr am on perceptions of pain and disability in nurses with low back injur y was studied using a preintervention Versus postintervention design w ith concurrent control group. Objectives. To examine the relationship and changes over time between pain and disability measures in two grou ps of back-injured nurses-those who received the early intervention pr ogram (study) and those who were not offered the program (control). Su mmary of Background Data. The relationship between back pain and disab ility is not straightforward. The effects of an intervention program o n changes in perceptions of pain and disability over time have not bee n widely reported. Methods. The Oswestry Low Back Disability Questionn aire and a visual analog pain scale were administered to 46 study nurs es and 137 control nurses at time of injury and at 6 months after inju ry. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the relat ionships between the two measures. Changes over time were compared wit h analyses of variance. Results. Pain and disability were positively c orrelated in both groups at time of injury and at follow-up evaluation . Mean scores for pain and disability were lower at follow-up evaluati on than at initial injury in both groups: study nurses had significant ly (P < 0.01) lower scores at 6 months than nurses in the control grou p. Disability at time of injury predicted disability at 6 months only for nurses in the control group. Conclusions. This workplace-based ear ly intervention program decreased levels of pain and disability in bac k-injured nurses and altered the relationship between these two variab les over a 6-month time interval.