• Eilayyan O
• Thomas A
• Halle MC
• Ahmed S
• Tibbles AC
• Jacobs C
• Mior S
• Davis C
• Evans R
• Schneider MJ
• Owens H
• Al Zoubi FM
• Barnsley J
• Long CR
• Bussières A

• Affiliation / Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC)
• Affiliation / Centre for Collaboration, Motivation and Innovation
• Affiliation / Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR)
• Affiliation / Palmer College of Chiropractic
• Affiliation / University of Minnesota
• Affiliation / University of Pittsburgh
• Affiliation / University of Toronto
• Affiliation(G) / Canada / British Columbia / Vancouver
• Affiliation(G) / Canada / British Columbia / Vernon
• Affiliation(G) / Canada / Ontario / Toronto
• Affiliation(G) / Canada / Quebec / Montreal
• Affiliation(G) / United States / Iowa / Davenport
• Affiliation(G) / United States / Minnesota / Minneapolis
• Affiliation(G) / United States / Pennsylvania / Pittsburgh
• Decision Theory
• Musculoskeletal Pain
• Open Access Document
• Patient Participation
• Research Design / Canada
• Self Care / methods
• Self-Management
• Surveys and Questionnaires / Canada
• Translational Research, Biomedical

Background: The literature supports the effectiveness of self-management support (SMS) to improve health outcomes of patients with chronic spine pain. However, patient engagement in SMS programs is suboptimal. The objectives of this study were to: 1) assess participation in self-care (i.e. activation) among patients with spine pain, 2) identify patients’ barriers and enablers to using SMS, and 3) map behaviour change techniques (BCTs) to key barriers to inform the design of a knowledge translation (KT) intervention aimed to increase the use of SMS.

Methods: In summer 2016, we invited 250 patients with spine pain seeking care at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Ontario, Canada to complete the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) survey to assess the level of participation in self-care. We subsequently conducted individual interviews, in summer 2017, based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) in a subset of patients to identify potential challenges to using SMS. The interview guide included 20 open-ended questions and accompanying probes. Findings were deductively analysed guided by the TDF. A panel of 7 experts mapped key barriers to BCTs, designed a KT intervention, and selected the modes of delivery.

Results: Two hundred and twenty-three patients completed the PAM. Approximately 24% of respondents were not actively involved in their care. Interview findings from 13 spine pain patients suggested that the potential barriers to using SMS corresponded to four TDF domains: Environmental Context and Resources; Emotion; Memory, Attention & Decision-Making; and Behavioural Regulation. The proposed theory-based KT intervention includes paper-based educational materials, webinars and videos, summarising and demonstrating the therapeutic recommendations including exercises and other lifestyle changes. In addition, the KT intervention includes Brief Action Planning, a SMS strategy based on motivational interviewing, along with a SMART plan and reminders.

Conclusions: Almost one quarter of study participants were not actively engaged in their spine care. Key barriers likely to influence uptake of SMS among patients were identified and used to inform the design of a theory-based KT intervention to increase their participation level. The proposed multi-component KT intervention may be an effective strategy to optimize the quality of spine pain care and improve patients’ health-outcomes.

Author keywords: Spine pain —  Chiropractic — Self-management — Theory-based intervention —  Knowledge translation — Theoretical domains framework

Author affiliations: OE, AT, MCH, SA, HO, AB, FAZ: School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; OE, AT, MCH, SA, FAZ, AB: Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR), Montreal, Quebec, Canada; ACT, CJ, SM: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; CD: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; CD: Centre for Collaboration, Motivation and Innovation, Vernon, British Columbia, Canada; RE: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States; MJS: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States; JB: University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; CRL: Palmer College, Davenport, Iowa, United States

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; click on the above link for free full text. PubMed Record