The effect of social support in chronic back pain: number of treatment sessions and reported level of disability.

The findings indicated that age, social support had a significant positive effect on the number of treatment sessions attended by participants and that life control, affective distress, and level of social support were negatively related to disability levels. The findings support interdisciplinary approaches, including social interventions as important part of any chronic back pain treatment.Implications for rehabilitationChronic back pain does not respond well to traditional rehabilitation methods based on the Medical Model.Social support has a significant impact on treatment adherence and disability. This study measures perceived social support from an emotional and instrumental perspective.Social support interventions as part of a multidisciplinary approach would be beneficial in the experience of chronic back pain.