Background: The aim of the study was to investigate health problems in patients with degenerative disease of the spine (the main reason for deterioration of physical fitness) and to determine the need for health education.
Material and methods: The study involved 50 people. A diagnostic survey with an ad hoc questionnaire was used. Quality of life was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The HAQ-DI indicator of disability was used to assess the respondents' health status.
Results: Biological problems in the respondents included pain (60%). Psychological problems included a sense of inferiority (54%) and feeling lonely (24%). The most frequent difficulties in fulfilling social roles were problems associated with low social and occupational activity (56%). The patients assessed their health as significantly worse (p = 0.006) than the quality of their lives. The quality of life was the highest (67.9 points) in the social sphere, and the lowest (60.9 points) in the psychological sphere.
Conclusions: 1. The main health problems reported by the study participants were cervical and lumbar spinal pain experienced during prolonged physical activity in the course of daily living activities. 2. The quality of life decreases with increasing difficulty in performing daily activities. 3. It is important to strengthen patients' belief that physical activity, including physiotherapy, has a positive impact on physical fitness and the ability to perform daily activities. 4. An important aim of the therapeutic team is to support and motivate patients to cope with difficult situations and function in society.