Methods: Eleven rehabilitation centers from various parts of Germany participated in collection
of data between 2009 and 2011. A total of 701 patients with chronic low back pain were surveyed
at the start of rehabilitation. The patient questionnaire captured communication preferences,
pain impact, pain intensity, and psychologic variables (fear avoidance beliefs, illness coherence,
control beliefs, communication self-efficacy, and personality characteristics). The rehabilitation
physicians filled out a documentation sheet containing information on diagnosis, inability
to work, duration of the illness, and comorbidity at the beginning and end of rehabilitation.
Hierarchical regression analyses were performed