Do personalized feedback messages about activity patterns stimulate patients with chronic low back pain to change their activity behavior on a short term notice?

The aim of this study was to explore whether patients responded to personalized messages on top of continuous visual feedback by changes in activity patterns and whether this response is related to the stages of change and the pain intensity levels. Patients wore a movement sensor and a PDA for 2 weeks and received continuously feedback and time-related messages to influence activity behavior. The response was calculated by calculating the activity 30 min before and after a message. In addition, the readiness to change was measured with the Stage of Change questionnaire and pain intensity was measured on a visual analogue scale. Sixteen patients participated, receiving a total of 517 messages. Overall, patients responded to personalized messages (p < .049), with a higher response in the morning. Patients in different stages of change responded differently to the messages (p = .009) and the response was significantly related to the pain intensity levels (Pearson correlation -.226) in the second week of feedback. This study suggests that personalized messages have the potential to influence activity behavior. It seems relevant to take time of the day, the stages of change and pain intensity levels of the patient into account to further optimize the feedback strategy used.