Influence of lockdown on spinal pain: a preliminary report on use of the “2020 lockdown questionnaire”

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.