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Abstract
Background: In order to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy, a lockdown was issued in March 2020, which has forced people to spend much more time at home. While it is recognised that the associated change in life habits has changed their psychological well-being, quality of life also depends on physical well-being. This is particularly important for those with musculoskeletal conditions, such as spinal pain.
Objectives: Recognising that spinal pain is a bio-psycho-social pathology, we developed a questionnaire to investigate potential associations between the level of disability caused by spinal pain (that arose or increased during the lockdown period) and the perception of the respondents with respect to the limitations of activities of daily living.
Methods: In the absence of similar tools in the literature, a dedicated questionnaire tool was developed and piloted. It consists of 4 parts: two self-report questionnaires specially formulated for this study, and two already validated questionnaires. It was administered to 110 participants from 10 private rehabilitation facilities. All subjects were of age and had lumbar and/or cervical spine pain occurring before or during the lockdown period with non-traumatic etiopathogenesis.
Results: The majority of participants perceived their spine pain as having arisen or increased during the lockdown period. The existence of a probable connection between this perception and the degree of disability at the time of the survey is confirmed by the contingency tables between this item of the second questionnaire and both disability scales which showed a statistically significant correlation.
Conclusions: The survey tool was found to be valid in this population, and is recommended for further studies.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Diego Longo
Diego Longo graduated in Physiotherapy in 2013 at the University of Florence. He also obtained a master's degree in Rehabilitation Sciences of the Health Professions in 2017 at the same university. Since 2018 he is a PhD student in physiology at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of the University of Florence. Since 2005 he has been a member of the International Academy of Laser Medicine and Surgery, since 2013 of the Italian Association of Physiotherapists and of the Grimaldi Association, and since 2015 of the International Society of Motor Control. He is mainly involved in research in neurorehabilitation, motor control and photobiomodulation fields.
E. Tognetti
Emiliano Tognetti, (Pontedera, 1984), psychologist-psychotherapist, specialist in social projects and journalist. Graduated in Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Florence, he is currently vice-president of the Association "Archimede" in Lucca, associate in the cooperative "La Tela di Penelope" and scientific consultant of "ALAP". He also collaborates with Misericordia of Corsagna and with other non-profit organizations of the Regione Toscana. He’s part of the Working Group on “Disability” of the Order of Psychologists of Tuscany and writes in generalist and specialized magazines. He also deals with analysis and research in the field of disability, both from a design and rehabilitation point of view and analyses the psychological components and social dynamics of socio-working internships for disadvantaged people.
D. Melchiorre
Daniela Melchiorre, MD, PhD. Born in Cassino, she lives in Lucca and spends her time working both in Florence and in Lucca. She graduated in Medicine and Surgery in Pisa, she is a specialist in Rheumatology and Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry at the University of Pisa. You have a Doctorate in Clinical and Experimental Medicine at the University of Florence, where you have been a researcher since 2008. In 1991 you held the position of medical doctor at the Casale Monferrato Physiotherapy Unit. She is currently a contract professor at the University of Florence for the teaching of Rheumatology in the Specialized Degree Course in Nursing and in the Degree Course in Physiotherapy. During her professional career she has dealt with osteoporosis, physiotherapy with particular attention to the Grimaldi maneuver, musculoskeletal ultrasound, haemophilic arthropathy, also organizing numerous conferences on the subject. You have developed numerous professional skills, in particular in the field of ultrasound for which you have received important awards, and you have published works in national and international journals. Spend most of your professional time on applied clinical research.
M. A. Bagni
Maria Angela Bagni is a full Professor of Physiology at the University of the Study of Florence, Italy, since 2004. She has a Degree in Natural Science, a Degree in Biology and a Ph.D. in Physiology. She had and has numerous national and international collaborations. She has been referee for many international scientific journals. She has participated as an invited speaker at national and international symposia and congresses. The experimental work carried out is collected in more than 60 publications. Her main research fields are: i) muscle mechanics, particularly the study of the mechanism of force generation in skeletal muscles also involving X-ray diffraction experiments to relate the ultrastructural changes in myofilaments with force development and ii) human movement control in health and disease. Particularly during the rehabilitation post ictus and in rheumatic patients using the physiotherapeutic Muscle Shortening Maneuver.