Predicting Relaxation Behaviors in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Theory Based Study from Yazd, Iran

Background: One approach to face with Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) is to perform Relaxation Behavior (RB). The aim of this study was to assess the factors predicting the behaviors of relaxation among the patients with CLBP in Yazd, Iran. Methods: This descriptive study conducted on 182 patients with CLBP, referring to the pain clinic in Yazd, Iran from October to December 2016. A socio-demographic questionnaire and a 14-item questionnaire regarding RB based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) were used to collect the required data. Data were fed into SPSS software v.23 and AMOS software v. 23 and analyzed using linear regression analysis procedures. Results: A total of 182 individuals with mean age of 42/18 ± 13/12 years participated in this study. The results showed that attitude towards the behavior was a good predictor of intension to do RB (p .001). However, subjective norm was not a good predictor of intention to do relaxation behavior (p = .058). This study showed that intention was a good predictor for doing relaxation behavior (p = .042). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the health care providers are recommended to change RB beliefs of the patients suffering from chronic low back pain in order to persuade them to do regular relaxation behaviors to improve their pain.