Selected psychosocial predictors of treatment adherence among Individuals with Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain

One of the most challenging problems facing health care professionals globally is patients’ non-adherence to treatment programs. This study therefore investigated the role of anxiety, depression, self-efficacy and social support on treatment adherence.Ninety-two purposively selected individuals diagnosed with mechanical low back pain (mean age =37.45 ± 5.48) participated in this cross-sectional survey. A 95-item battery of scales (questionnaire) was used in measuring participants’ bio-data, level of anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, social support, pain self-efficacy and treatment adherence. Descriptive (means; SD; and %) and inferential (multiple regression and ANOVA) statistics were employed in analysis, with three hypotheses tested at p<0.05. Anxiety, depression, self-efficacy and social support jointly predicted cognition (R=.57; R²=.33;F(4,87)=10.64; p<.01), behavioral  (R = .29; R² =.08; F (4,87) = 1.97; p<.05) and therapy satisfaction (R = .29; R² =.08; F (4,87) = 1.94;p<.05) domains of treatment adherence.  Self-efficacy independently predicted behavioral (β=.59) and therapy satisfaction (β=.25) domains of treatment adherence (β=.25). Self-efficacy, social support, anxiety and depression are jointly pertinent in forecasting the cognition, treatment satisfaction and behavioural domains of treatment adherence among low back pain patients. Attention to these psychological factors would be needful in the management of treatment adherence among patients with low back pain

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Self-Efficacy, Social Support, Treatment adherence, low back pain