ABSTRACT
Background: Back pain affects nurses' physical, social and emotional well-being, as they encounter difficulties in executing their social and occupational duties. Objectives: Our study investigated the impact of a cross-cultural back pain campaign on nurses' beliefs about back pain; activating the participants to self-manage; coping strategies; sick leave claimed; and frequency of doctor visits. Method: A single sample pre- and post-test design was used. The intervention was a 12-week educational campaign based on evidence-based back pain messages. Primary outcomes were measured by their beliefs about back pain and their activation to self-manage. Analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27.0 software, and significant differences from before and after the campaign were analysed using the Chi-square test at a 0.05 significance level. Results: There were no significant differences in the age, gender and work hours of the nurses who participated before and after the campaign, except for their professional work settings (< 0.05). All secondary outcomes improved significantly after the campaign, and outcomes on beliefs about back pain showed significantly positive changes in six of the 14 items, while all questions pertaining to patient activation improved significantly. Conclusion: The 12-week back pain campaign, based on contextualised, evidence-based back pain messages for Zambian nurses, motivated the participants to self-manage their back pain. However, not all beliefs about back pain changed positively after the campaign. Clinical implications: The findings of this back pain education campaign show promise as a strategy to improve knowledge, behaviours and beliefs about back pain in African settings.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on back pain recommend early management and use of approaches that emphasise self-management, psychological and physical therapies. Lately, mass media campaigns, addressing misconceptions about back pain, have been conducted in developed countries. OBJECTIVES: This study retrieved and synthesised the contents of back pain messages and described the outcomes and effectiveness of the media campaigns. METHOD: Seventeen key words and 10 electronic databases were used to conduct a search between February and July 2018. Authors screened titles, abstracts and full-text articles independently to identify eligible studies. Data were reported using narratives because of heterogeneity in the outcomes. RESULTS: Appraisal of articles was done using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale for randomised controlled trials (RCT) (one) or the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for non-RCT (four). The campaigns were conducted in the general population in Australia, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Scotland. The message 'stay as active as possible' increased participants' awareness and influenced their health beliefs and healthcare utilisation behaviours resulting in reductions in sick leave days, work disability, healthcare utilisation and claims. CONCLUSION: The back pain campaign message 'stay as active as possible' increased participants' awareness and influenced their health beliefs and healthcare utilisation behaviours. Even though the campaigns were done in high-income countries, their contents and methods are transferable to developing countries. However, their implementation must be tailored and efficient and cost-effective methods need to be explored. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Providing information on back pain can contribute to significant changes in sickness behaviours and beliefs.
