Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41483256›Full record

ArticleQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2026

Can pain self-efficacy mediate the influence of pain intensity on outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal pain? A prospective mediation analysis with 12 months follow-up.

Monica Unsgaard-Tøndel, Kari Anne I Evensen, Nina Køpke Vøllestad, Hilde Stendal Robinson, Fredrik Granviken, Astrid Woodhouse, Ingebrigt Meisingset

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In one paragraph

Article in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03626389 (Clinical Course and Prognostic Factors of Patients Receiving Physiotherapy Services in Primary Health Care in Norway), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT03626389 completednot on this map

Clinical Course and Prognostic Factors of Patients Receiving Physiotherapy Services in Primary Health Care in Norway (FYSIOPRIM)

TypeobservationalSponsorUniversity of OsloRan2016 to 2021Enrolled4,985ConditionsMusculoskeletal Diseases or Conditions, Neurologic Disorder, Widespread Chronic Pain, Psychosomatic DisorderArmsPhysiotherapy
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Monica Unsgaard-TøndelDepartment of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. monica.unsgaard.tondel@ntnu.no.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4529-0502
Kari Anne I EvensenDepartment of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
Nina Køpke VøllestadDepartment of Public Health Science and Interdisciplinary Health Science, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Hilde Stendal RobinsonDepartment of Public Health Science and Interdisciplinary Health Science, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Fredrik GranvikenDepartment of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, 7491 , Trondheim, Norway.
Astrid WoodhouseDepartment of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
Ingebrigt MeisingsetDepartment of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, 7491 , Trondheim, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeIn longstanding pain, a core treatment aim is to minimize the effect of pain on health-related quality of life and patient-specific function. The study aim was to assess whether the effect of pain intensity on outcome is mediated through pain self-efficacy. A secondary aim was to assess the mediating effect of pain self-efficacy for a subgroup of patients with low pain self-efficacy.

methodsProspective data of 422 patients with musculoskeletal pain seeking physical therapy was applied in analyses. The exposure was baseline pain intensity and outcomes were health-related quality of life (EQ-5D), patient-specific function (PSFS) and global perceived effect (GPE) at 12 months. The mediator was measured by the 2-item pain self-efficacy questionnaire (PSEQ-2) at baseline and 3 months.

resultsThe mediating effect of pain self-efficacy on the relation between pain intensity and health-related quality of life and patient-specific function was statistically, but not clinically, significant: − 0.01 (95% CI − 0.01 to − 0.00) and − 0.08 (95% CI (− 0.15 to − 0.01). For the mediating effect of pain self-efficacy on the relation between pain intensity and global perceived effect, odds ratio was 0.97 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.01). In a subgroup with low baseline pain self-efficacy, the mediating effect of pain self-efficacy was − 0.28 (− 0.55 to − 0.01) for patient-specific function.

conclusionPain self-efficacy did not have an important mediating effect on the relation between pain intensity and outcome. In a subgroup with reduced pain self-efficacy, the effect of baseline pain intensity on patient-specific function was mediated by pain self-efficacy.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03626389. Registered August 13, 2018 (retrospectively registered).

Indexed as

Musculoskeletal PainQuality of LifeSelf EfficacyAdultAgedFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMediation AnalysisMiddle AgedPain MeasurementProspective StudiesSurveys and QuestionnairesGlobal perceived effectHealth-related quality of lifeMediation analysisMusculoskeletal painPain self-efficacyPatient-specific function

Identifiers

PMID41483256
PMCPMC12764639

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