Affiliations: Strömsund Health Centre, Jämtland County
Council, Strömsund, Sweden | The Centre of Family Medicine, Karolinska Institute,
SE-141 83 Huddinge, Sweden | The Research and Development Unit, Jämtland County
Council, Östersund, Sweden | School of Human Sciences, Department of Health
Sciences, Kalmar University, Kalmar, Sweden
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Rita Sjöström, Strömsund
Health Centre, SE-833 34 Strömsund, Sweden. Tel.: +46 670 16545; Fax:
+46~670 16505; E-mail: rita.sjostrom@jll.se
Abstract: Purpose: To investigate whether improvement of range of motion (ROM)
in persons with musculoskeletal disorders, mainly neck and back pain, was
associated with a favourable development regarding physical disability, pain,
and health-related quality of life (QoL), and whether such development differed
between sick-listed and non-sick-listed persons during and up to 2 years after
a multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme. Methods: Ten persons with
full-time sick leave (Group I) and 49 with part-time or no sick leave (Group
II) at the end of a previous study participated. It was shown in that study
that Group I had higher pain rating and higher subjective physical disability
than Group II, with little or no improvement during and after rehabilitation.
In the present study, all participants were evaluated with neck and back
mobility tests: Disability Rating Index (DRI); Pain Intensity Rating on a
visual analogue scale (VAS); and Global Self-Efficacy Index (GSI). Results: Cervical and thoracolumbar spine ROM were lower in Group I than in
Group II from the start of rehabilitation to a 2-year follow-up. Only Group II
showed a temporal improvement in ROM. No changes in DRI, VAS or GSI were found
in parallel with corresponding temporal changes in any of the ROM. Conclusion: Group II but not Group I improved in active ROM during
rehabilitation; further, in Group I active ROM in the cervical and
thoracolumbar spine did not improve during the 2-year follow-up. Improvement of
ROM showed no correlation with physical disability, pain or QoL.
Keywords: Back pain, disability, mobility, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, quality of life, rehabilitation
