Research Article Barriers to Physical Activity in Low Back Pain Patients following Rehabilitation: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial Andrea Schaller, 1,2 Anne-Kathrin Exner, 3,4 Sarah Schroeer, 5 Vera Kleineke, 4 and Odile Sauzet 3,6 1 Institute of Health Promotion and Clinical Movement Science, German Sport University Cologne, Am Sportpark Muengersdorf 6, 50933 Cologne, Germany 2 IST-Hochschule University of Applied Sciences, Erkrather Str. 220 a-c, 40233 Duesseldorf, Germany 3 Department of Epidemiology and International Public Health, Bielefeld School of Public Health (BiSPH), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany 4 FH M¨ unster-University of Applied Sciences, M¨ unster School of Health, M¨ unster, Germany 5 Institute of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany 6 StatBeCe, Centre for Statistics, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany Correspondence should be addressed to Andrea Schaller; a.schaller@dshs-koeln.de Received 16 May 2017; Revised 6 September 2017; Accepted 13 September 2017; Published 25 October 2017 Academic Editor: Emmanuel G. Ciolac Copyright © 2017 Andrea Schaller et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Promoting health-enhancing physical activity following rehabilitation is a well-known challenge. Tis study analysed the barriers to leisure time activity among low back pain patients. Methods. A subset of 192 low back pain patients who participated in a randomized controlled trial promoting physical activity was analysed. Physical activity, barriers, and sociodemographic and indication-related variables were assessed by a questionnaire. Diferences in barriers between active and inactive participants were tested by Pearson’s chi squared test. A logistic regression model was ftted to identify infuencing factors on physical activity at six months following rehabilitation. Results. Inactive and active participants difered signifcantly in nine of the 19 barriers assessed. Te adjusted regression model showed associations of level of education (OR = 5.366 [1.563; 18.425];  value = 0.008) and fear of pain (OR = 0.612 [0.421; 0.889];  value = 0.010) with physical activity. Te barriers included in the model failed to show any statistically signifcant association afer adjustment for sociodemographic factors. Conclusions. Low back pain patients especially with a low level of education and fear of pain seem to need tailored support in overcoming barriers to physical activity. Tis study is registered at German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00004878). 1. Introduction Low back pain exhibits a high prevalence in medical reha- bilitation and high costs for social insurers in Germany [1, 2]. Physical activity and exercise are an integral part in the management and rehabilitation of low back pain [3–8]. Across all indications the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity is of utmost importance to increase the sustainability of rehabilitation [8–10]. Nevertheless, engaging in regular exercise and implementing physical activity into a daily routine are a common problem for patients following rehabilitation [11]. However, little is known about the barriers to physical activity among low back pain patients. In general, commonly reported barriers for undertaking physical activity can be assigned to diferent categories: lack of time (e.g., due to family, household, and occupational responsibilities) [12–16], health and quality of life (e.g., comor- bidity) [14, 17–19], psychological barriers (e.g., emotional or motivational problems) [15, 16, 19], social and sociocultural barriers (e.g., family commitments) [12, 13, 16, 18], access Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2017, Article ID 6925079, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6925079