Abstract: Objective: To investigate the level and influencing factors of fear-avoidance belief in ICU nurses with Occupational Low Back Pain (OLBP). Methods: A total of 351 ICU nurses with OLBP from twenty-six hospitals including tertiary hospitals and secondary hospitals in Fujian provinces were enrolled and investigated using the Chinese version of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire. Results: The median of the OLBP courses of the subjects was four years, and pain score was (4.58±2.36). The pain onset frequency as accidental, frequent and persistent were 51.6%, 37.6%, 10.8%, respectively. The mean score of fear avoidance belief was (69.47±21.36). Age, hospital grade, personality type, professional title level and working years were the main factors influencing the scores of fear-avoidance beliefs of ICU nurses with OLBP (P<0.05), which explained 85.4% of the variation. Conclusion: The frequency of pain, the degree of pain and the level of fear-avoidance belief in ICU nurses with OLBP are relatively high. It calls for paying attention to the level of fear-avoidance belief. The nurses are encouraged to explore positive intervention strategies, reduce their negative emotional experience, and improve their quality of life.

Key words: ICU; Occupational Low Back Pain (OLBP); fear-avoidance belief; nurse