Defining advice to stay active in low back pain or back-related leg pain – A scoping review

Abstract

Background: Low back pain with or without back-related leg pain is a major cause of disability. ‘Advice to stay active’ is a guideline-recommended intervention, but it is often vaguely defined, creating a knowledge gap in musculoskeletal health.

Objective: To map, categorize, and define ‘advice to stay active’ interventions for low back pain or back-related leg pain.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted using JBI model searching Cochrane, PEDro, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. No language restrictions were applied. Eligible study designs were randomized clinical trials, study protocols, systematic reviews, and guidelines. Data extraction included author, year, study design, aims, definition of “ advice to stay active”, intervention arms, control description, sample and country.

Results: Twenty-seven (51.92%) of fifty-two studies provided incomplete definitions or omitted domains identified in this research. Fifty-two studies were included, revealing variability in how ‘advice to stay active’ was presented. The most frequent components were grouped into four domains: good prognosis (n=18; 34.62%), performing daily activities (n=17; 32.69%), coping despite pain (n=11; 21.25%), and gradual return (n=9; 17.31%). Twenty-five (48.08%) of fifty-two studies don’t provided any definition or domains identified in this research.

The four domains: good prognosis, performing daily activities, coping despite the pain, and gradual return presented in this research can facilitate behavior change, promote self-efficacy, and support recovery.

Conclusion: The most common domains of ‘advice to stay active’ in academic literature are good prognosis, performing daily activities, moving despite pain, and gradual return.