Treating Negative Affect in Low Back Pain Patients

Approximately 20 million Americans are affected by chronic low back pain and negative affective states such as depression and anxiety. These negative states have all been associated with higher pain intensity, lower pain tolerance, greater use of pain medication, poor pain treatment responses, and higher levels of psychiatric comorbidity among low back pain patients. To improve these outcomes for those who suffer from low back pain, it is important to implement multiple methods with a focus in treating negative affect for pain management rather than using opioids alone. Antidepressant (AD) and fear avoidance-based physical therapy (EFAR) have individually shown to be promising methods for pain management. In this study, AD, EFAR, and the combination therapy of the two treatments will be explored and implemented to investigate their effectiveness in improving pain, function, depression, and anxiety. The key innovation is testing a new and effective multimodal treatment that can help manage pain, as well as address negative affect.