How Does Basic Body Awareness Therapy Effect Pain Coping Strategies in Postmenopausal Women?

Primary outcomes

1. Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ)

   Time frame: 3 minutes

   Body awareness of the participants will be evaluated Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) developed by Shields, Mallory & Simon. BAQ is a questionnaire that aims to determine the normal or abnormal sensitivity level of body composition. It consists of four subgroups (Attention to changes in body process and responses, sleep-wake cycle, prediction at onset of illness, prediction of body responses) and a total of 18 statements. The participant will be asked to rate each statement with numbers from one to seven (1 = not at all true for me, 7 = completely true for me). Rating in the survey is done as a total score. It is concluded that the higher the total score to be obtained from the questionnaire, the better the body awareness.

2. McGill-Short Form Pain Questionnaire

   Time frame: 5 minutes

   The pain levels of the PmW will be measured with the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire. The questionnaire, developed by Melzack in 1987 and the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of which was demonstrated in 2007, is widely used in measuring pain. This questionnaire consists of a total of 15 descriptive words to determine the sensory (11 words) and affective (4 words) dimensions of pain. In this section, the severity of pain (0=absent, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe) is evaluated. In addition, the pain felt at the time of measurement is measured with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the total pain intensity is measured with a 10-point Likert scale. On this scale, 1 = no pain, 10 = unbearable pain.

3. Pain Coping Strategies

   Time frame: 5 minutes

   Pain coping strategies of PmW will be assessed with Pain Coping Inventory (PCI). The scale developed by Kraaimaat and Evers evaluates how often chronic pain patients use behavioral and cognitive methods to cope with pain. The original form of the scale includes six dimensions as pain transformation, distraction, reducing demands, retreating, worrying, and resting. Pain transformation, comforting thinking, and distraction are active coping methods; retreat, worrying, and resting are passive coping methods. The scoring options range from 1 (almost none) to 4 (very often).

4. Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Index

   Time frame: 5 minutes

   The Oswestry low back pain disability index (OLBPDI), first published in 1980, was developed to assess pain-related disability in people with acute, subacute, or chronic low back pain. It includes 1 item related to pain and 9 items related to activities of daily living (personal care, lifting, walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, social life and travel). Each item is measured on a 6-point ranking scale from best to worst-case scenario. A total score of 0-4 indicates no disability, 5-14 indicates mild disability, 15-24 indicates moderate disability, 25-34 indicates severe functional disability, and 35-50 indicates full functional disability.

5. Neck Disability Index

   Time frame: 5 minutes

   The questionnaire, which evaluates subjective symptoms and activities of daily living, consists of 10 sections (pain severity, lifting weights, sleep, reading, driving, headache, concentration, work life, personal care, and leisure activities). For each section, there are 6 items ranging from 0-5 points. The total score ranges from 0 to 50 (0: no excuse; 50: maximum excuse). The total score obtained from the questionnaire expresses the severity of neck disability (0-4 points no disability, 5-14 points mild disability, 15-24 points moderate disability, 25-34 points severe disability, and over 35 points total disability).