Fear of movement (Kinesiophobia), body mass index and pain intensity in university male students with chronic non-specific lower back pain: comparison of three levels of kinesiophobia

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the weight status and the level of kinesiophobia of university male students with non-specific lower back pain. 106 male students were enrolled voluntarily in the study. Kinesiophobia had assessed using the Tampa Scale (TSK), pain with 0-to-10 Pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). Subgroups was classified according to BMI and to kinesiophobia level. Beyond descriptive statistics, Pearson's rank correlation test (rho) was adopted for identifying the correlation between parameters. Percentage of overweight and obese students was above 61%, and near to half of the university students had high TSK score. All studied variables (weight, BMI, TSK, pain) showed significant (p<005) increment due to BMI classification and to kinesiophobia classification alike. No association was found between TSK score with BMI in the three subgroups, but the association was slightly significant with pain in low (r=0.408) and in high (r= 0.462) subgroups of kinesiophobia only.