A Short Evidence-Based, Belief-Focused Educational Video Improves Back Pain Beliefs but Not Lifting Behaviour in Healthy Office Workers: An Exploratory Randomised Controlled Trial.
4 affiliations
- 1School of Health Professions, Division of Physiotherapy, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.
- 2School of Health Sciences, Institute of Physiotherapy, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland.
- 3School of Health Professions, Institute on Ageing, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland.
- 4HESAV School of Health Sciences-Vaud, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract
Background
Unhelpful beliefs about low back pain are associated with altered movement behaviour during lifting. Brief educational videos may offer a scalable approach to modify such beliefs, but their impact on movement behaviour remains unclear.Objective
To investigate whether a short educational video can reduce unhelpful back pain beliefs and promote a more stoop-like lifting behaviour in healthy adults.Methods
In this assessor-blind randomised controlled trial, 50 healthy office workers were assigned to an experimental group (educational video on back pain beliefs and management) or a control group (anatomy video). Outcomes were measured before and immediately after the intervention and included the 10-item Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire (Back-PAQ10), lumbar curvature range of motion (RoM), and lifting strategy (Stoop-Squat Index) during lifting and lowering of 5 and 15 kg boxes. Linear mixed-effects models evaluated Group, Time, and interaction effects.Results
Back-PAQ10 scores showed a larger reduction in the intervention group (Δ = 6.12, p < 0.001) than the control group (Δ = 0.88, p = 0.002), with a significant Group × Time interaction (p < 0.001). Lumbar curvature RoM decreased (p < 0.001), but no Group × Time interaction occurred (p = 0.604). The Stoop-Squat Index showed a main effect for Time (p = 0.005), but no Group × Time interaction (p = 0.935).Conclusion
A brief educational video effectively improved back pain beliefs but did not alter lifting behaviour or spinal motion. This dissociation between cognitive and motor responses suggests that changing movement patterns may require more intensive or interactive interventions.
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BibTeX
@article{mullerschmid2026short,
title = {{A Short Evidence-Based, Belief-Focused Educational Video Improves Back Pain Beliefs but Not Lifting Behaviour in Healthy Office Workers: An Exploratory Randomised Controlled Trial.}},
author = {Anja Müller-Schmid and Christian Bangerter and Panka Nagy and Fabian Pfeiffer and Marina Bruderer-Hofstetter and Guillaume Christe and Stefan Schmid},
journal = {Musculoskeletal care},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/msc.70290},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924901},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Short Evidence-Based, Belief-Focused Educational Video Improves Back Pain Beliefs but Not Lifting Behaviour in Healthy Office Workers: An Exploratory Randomised Controlled Trial.
AU - Anja Müller-Schmid
AU - Christian Bangerter
AU - Panka Nagy
AU - Fabian Pfeiffer
AU - Marina Bruderer-Hofstetter
AU - Guillaume Christe
AU - Stefan Schmid
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Musculoskeletal care
DO - 10.1002/msc.70290
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924901
AB - Background Unhelpful beliefs about low back pain are associated with altered movement behaviour during lifting. Brief educational videos may offer a scalable approach to modify such beliefs, but their impact on movement behaviour remains unclear.Objective To investigate whether a short educational video can reduce unhelpful back pain beliefs and promote a more stoop-like lifting behaviour in healthy adults.Methods In this assessor-blind randomised controlled trial, 50 healthy office workers were assigned to an experimental group (educational video on back pain beliefs and management) or a control group (anatomy video). Outcomes were measured before and immediately after the intervention and included the 10-item Back Pain Attitudes Questionnaire (Back-PAQ10), lumbar curvature range of motion (RoM), and lifting strategy (Stoop-Squat Index) during lifting and lowering of 5 and 15 kg boxes. Linear mixed-effects models evaluated Group, Time, and interaction effects.Results Back-PAQ10 scores showed a larger reduction in the intervention group (Δ = 6.12, p < 0.001) than the control group (Δ = 0.88, p = 0.002), with a significant Group × Time interaction (p < 0.001). Lumbar curvature RoM decreased (p < 0.001), but no Group × Time interaction occurred (p = 0.604). The Stoop-Squat Index showed a main effect for Time (p = 0.005), but no Group × Time interaction (p = 0.935).Conclusion A brief educational video effectively improved back pain beliefs but did not alter lifting behaviour or spinal motion. This dissociation between cognitive and motor responses suggests that changing movement patterns may require more intensive or interactive interventions.
SN - 1478-2189
SN - 1557-0681
ER -