How do pregnant women manage lumbopelvic pain? Pain management and their perceived effectiveness

Abstract

Aims and objectives: This study aims to (1) investigate the pain management treatments used by pregnant women with lumbopelvic pain and their perceived effectiveness and (2) identify the predictors of pain treatment use.

Background: A variety of treatments have been shown to be effective for reducing pregnancy-related lumbopelvic pain. However, the frequency of use of pain treatments and their perceived efficacy in pregnant women is still unknown. Knowledge regarding the use and perceived efficacy of these treatments would help guide clinical practice and inform future research.

Design: A cross-sectional design with consecutive sampling.

Methods: Participants were pregnant women in the 35th to 40th gestational week who reported lumbopelvic pain in an antenatal clinic of a medical centre in Taiwan. Questionnaires were administered assessing pain treatment use, pain relief associated with each treatment (e.g. perceived effectiveness), pain intensity, pain interference, pain endurance beliefs and demographic variables.

Results: Among 295 participants with lumbopelvic pain, only 34 (12%) sought pain treatment. The pain management treatments used included mechanical treatments (80% = 27/34), herbal medicine (9% = 3/34), exercise (6% = 2/34) and medications (6% = 2/34). Average perceived effectiveness associated with the treatments was 55%. Use of pain management strategies was negatively associated with pain endurance beliefs, but not with pain intensity or pain interference.

Conclusions: Pregnant women with lumbopelvic pain are unlikely to seek or use pain management treatments for pain, suggesting a greater need for adopting effective pain treatment in clinical settings.

Relevance to clinical practice: The study contributes new knowledge regarding how pregnant women cope with lumbopelvic pain and reveals very low rates in the use of pain treatments. Health professionals should assess pregnant women's pain beliefs about pain endurance and emphasise the safety and effectiveness of interventions that have empirical support, to help minimise unnecessary pain during pregnancy.

Keywords: low back pain; pain management; pelvic girdle pain; pregnancy.