ArticleBMJ open2022
Understanding how patients' pain beliefs influence chronic low back pain management in Ghana: a grounded theory approach.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Consensus Building on the Content of a Pediatric Pain Educational Program for Healthcare Professionals in a Low-Resource Setting: A Modified e-Delphi Study.Paediatric & neonatal pain · 2026Article
- Pain Experience and Patient-Reported Barriers to Analgesic Use in Emergency Care in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- A Sociological Framework for Improving Palliative Pain Care in Low-Resource Nations.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Reconfiguring Pain Interpretation Within a Social Model of Health Using a Simplified Version of Wilber's All Quadrant All Levels Framework: An Integral Vision.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- An integral vision of pain and its persistence: a whole-person, whole-system, salutogenic perspective.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Conceptualization of pain in Croatian adults: a cross-sectional and psychometric study.Croatian medical journal · 2024Article
- A Qualitative Investigation of the Psychosocial Impact of Chronic Low Back Pain in Ghana.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The influence of cultural and religious factors on cross-national variations in the prevalence of chronic back and neck pain: an analysis of data from the global burden of disease 2019 study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Understanding the Struggle: Older Adults' Experiences and Coping Approaches to Low Back Pain.Sage open agingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionChronic low back pain (CLBP) is associated with negative consequences in high and low/middle-income countries. Pain beliefs are important psychosocial factors that affect the occurrence and progression of CLBP and may be influenced by the sociocultural context and interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs). The pain beliefs of Ghanaian patients with CLBP are unknown and the factors influencing pain beliefs in African contexts are unclear.
objectivesTo explore the pain beliefs of Ghanaian patients with CLBP, how they influence CLBP management/coping and to identify the mechanisms influencing them.
designQualitative study using individual semistructured face-to-face interviews, situated within Straussian grounded theory principles and critical realist philosophy.
participantsThirty patients with CLBP accessing physiotherapy at two teaching hospitals in Ghana.
resultsParticipants suggested dominant biomedical/mechanical beliefs (related to CLBP causes, posture and activity, and the belief of an endpoint/cure for CLBP). Maladaptive beliefs and practices, in particular fear-avoidance beliefs, and dependence on passive management and coping, were common among participants. These beliefs and practices were mostly influenced by HCPs and sociocultural expectations/norms. Although spirituality, pacing activity and prescribed exercises were commonly mentioned by participants, other active strategies and positive beliefs were expressed by a few participants and influenced by patients' themselves. Limited physiotherapy involvement, knowledge and awareness were also reported by participants, and this appeared to be influenced by the limited physiotherapy visibility in Ghana.
conclusionParticipants' narratives suggested the dominant influence of HCPs and the sociocultural environment on their biomedical/mechanical beliefs. These facilitated maladaptive beliefs and adoption of passive coping and management practices. Therefore, incorporation of more positive beliefs and holistic/active strategies by Ghanaian patients and HCPs may be beneficial. Furthermore, patient empowerment and health literacy opportunities to address unhelpful CLBP/sociocultural beliefs and equip patients with management options for CLBP could be beneficial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.