Table 2 Diverse / conflicting perspectives: Biomedical or multidimensional understandings of pain. Key statements
Biomedical | Multidimensional | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
“Pain may mean something is out of place” | 76.0% agreement | “Pain only occurs when you are injured or at risk of being injured” | 85.1% disagreement | ||
“When you injure yourself, the environment that you are in will not affect the amount of pain you experience, as long as the injury is exactly the same” | 64.9% disagreement | “There is always tissue damage to explain pain” | 71.0% disagreement | ||
“Exercise is always helpful for treating pain” | 69.1% disagreement | “There is always a simple explanation for why someone has pain” | 83% disagreement | ||
“You should be very careful exercising when you have pain” | 90.2% agreement | “Pain means you aren’t healthy” | 87.6% disagreement | ||
“Good core stability is key to managing pain” | 19.3% disagreement | “It is important to stay active when you have pain” | 63.8% agreement | ||
“It is always important to maintain good alignment when exercising, especially if you have pain” | 85.8% agreement | “It is important to gradually increase your activity when you have pain” | 67.7% agreement | ||
Participants’ perceived influences on pain | Posture and alignment | 91.5% agreement | “It is possible to manage pain well yourself” | 68.2% agreement | |
Amount of tissue damage or injury | 91.4% agreement | “Understanding how pain works is an effective pain treatment” | 63.9% agreement | ||
Weight | 85.9% agreement | “It is important to treat underlying lifestyle factors for pain relief (e.g. sleep, stress, work habits, exercise, diet)” | 89.7% agreement | ||
Muscle tightness | 80.8% agreement | “Psychological treatments (talk therapies, stress management, mindfulness) can be helpful for treating pain” | 69.1% agreement | ||
Muscle weakness | 79.9% agreement | “Surgery should only be considered as a final option when other treatments have not worked” | 76.7% agreement | ||
Education level | 10.4% agreement | “Exercise can be helpful for treating pain” | 91.2% agreement | ||
Sex | 18.2% agreement | Participants’ perceived influences on pain | Sleep | 71.7% agreement | |
Culture | 23.4% agreement | Stress | 71.6% agreement | ||
Social support | 28.7% agreement | Comorbidities | 63.8% agreement | ||
Mood | 61.6% agreement | ||||