Fear-avoidance behavior has been widely acknowledged among chronic low back pain (LBP) patients. “The central concept of these models is fear of pain, or the more specific fear that physical activities will cause (re)injury. Patients may react to these fears either with ‘confrontation’ or ‘avoidance.'” This current study was designed to see if the fear that patients felt about their back pain translated into a physiological reaction. The authors started with the following hypotheses: Highly fearful patients will report more tension than low fearful patients.

Read more: Can fear of movement lead to physical inactivity in low back pain?