"The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Chronic Low Back Pain"

Abstract

Background: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a form of non-pharmacological therapies of choice, including psychoeducation about pain, cognitive restructuring, problem resolution, relaxation and behavioral activation and has been documented to be effective in treating chronic pain. The purpose of this thesis is to describe recent research data on the effectiveness of this method in improving pain and functionality in patients with low back pain.Methods: A search was conducted in electronic databases PubMed, google scholar, Pedro, ResearchGate and CINAHL for clinical trials since 2022 in Greek and English language, combining keywords of the central axes of the issue such as "chronic low back pain" or "CLBP", " cognitive behavioral therapy " or "CBT". Results:From the initial search a total of 89 articles were found. After the removal of the duplicate (n=9) and the title/abstract screening (n=43), 80 studies remained. After the final screening of the full text, 16 studies were in agreement with the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Most studies (n=7) examined the benefits of CBT at patients with chronic lumbar pain in all areas (economic method, more effective than medication, etc.), some (n=4) the benefits at chronic pain, (n=2) at patients with high fear of movement and (n=3) the benefits of online CBT. Conclusion:The application of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy appears to have positive effects on pain intensity, disability, fear of movement, the ability to relax, manage pain, fear of movement, be active and enjoy things are observed.