A cross-sectional study on fear-avoidance beliefs and chronic low back pain in fighter pilots.

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is considered a serious complaint among fighter pilots because the vertebrae of these pilots are exposed to high compression forces from prolonged sitting on a hard ejection seat and frequent sudden fighter aircraft maneuvers. It is yet unknown whether a correlation exists between CLBP and psychosocial/behavioral performance of fighter pilots.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 66 fighter pilots with nonspecific CLBP voluntarily participated in this study.