Ana Paula Carvalho-e-Silva

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at The University of Sydney

Purpose People who seek more care for low back pain (LBP) tend to experience poorer recovery (e.g. higher pain and disability levels). Understanding the factors associated with care-seeking for LBP might improve patient outcomes and potentially alleviate the burden of LBP on global health systems. This study aimed to investigate the relationship be...

Background context: Low back pain (LBP) is a global issue, and the high associated costs are mainly attributed to a small proportion of people with LBP who seek care. Importantly, the impact of aggregate positive lifestyle behaviors on LBP resilience and care seeking is not known. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between po...

Introduction: Globally, the rate of opioid prescription is high for chronic musculoskeletal conditions despite guidelines recommending against their use as their adverse effects outweigh their modest benefit. Deprescribing opioids is a complex process that can be hindered by multiple prescriber- and patient-related barriers. These include fear of...

Background There is growing evidence of the anti-inflammatory effect of the anti-diabetic drug metformin and its use to reduce pain. However, we currently lack studies investigating whether metformin is associated with a reduction in chronic back pain prevalence when considering physical activity levels, body mass index (BMI), and age. Objective T...

Background: Analgesics are the most common form of managing low back pain (LBP). No previous study has examined which domains and intensities of physical activity are most beneficial in reducing the frequency of analgesic use for LBP, and its related activity limitation. Methods: This cohort study forms part of the AUstralian Twin low BACK pain...

Background Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Care-seekers for LBP cause substantial economic burden to governments and the healthcare system. Objective To investigate lifestyle and health-related factors associated with care-seeking (including pain medication use) in individuals experiencing LBP, after controlling f...

Background: Although metformin there is growing evidence of metformin's pleiotropic effects, including possible effects on pain, there is a lack of study investigating the association of metformin with the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among a large type 2 diabetes cohort. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted with UK Biobank dat...

Background Previous studies have only investigated how symptom presentation and socio‐demographic factors influence care‐seeking for low back pain (LBP). However, the influence of health and lifestyle factors remains unclear, and the potential confounding effects of aggregated familial factors (including genetics and the early shared environment) h...

Purpose Despite the growing evidence that physical activity and familial factors play a role in low back pain (LBP), there is a lack of robust longitudinal studies that (1) investigate the types and dosages of physical activity that are protective or harmful for LBP, (2) employ objective measures of physical activity and (3) conduct appropriate adj...

OBJECTIVE: We investigated cross-sectional associations and whether type 2 diabetes increases the risk of musculoskeletal pain after adjusting for the presence of important comorbidities. METHODS: The study employed data from the UK Biobank participants: 495,327 in cross-sectional (2006-2010) and 16,875 in longitudinal (2014-2016) analyses. Type 2...

Background: Although the influence of genetics on chronic low back pain (LBP) has been previously examined, few studies have investigated whether the impact of genetic factors on LBP depends on how the condition is assessed. Methods: We investigated the contribution of genetics and environment on chronic LBP: lifetime prevalence, pain intensity...

Background Low back pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal conditions and the highest contributor to disability in the world. It is characterized by frequent relapses leading to additional care-seeking. Engagement in leisure physical activity is associated with lower recurrences and better prognosis and potentially reduced care-seeking....

Background Low back pain is a significant health problem condition due to high prevalence among the general population. Emotions and physical factors are believed to play a role in chronic low back pain. Kinesiophobia is one of the most extreme forms of fear of pain due to movement or re-injury.The purpose of this study was to investigate the assoc...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and stabilization exercises in an attempt to prevent fatigue and improve muscle activation in patients with lumbar disk herniation associated with low back pain. Methods: This study involved 29 patients (age range 25-58 years) randomized into 2...

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide. Current intervention strategies are failing to reduce the enormous global burden of LBP and are prompting researchers to investigate alternative management strategies, such as vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D supplementation appears to down regulate...

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the highest contributor to disability worldwide, with current intervention strategies only providing small to moderate analgesic effects. The use of vitamin D supplementation for LBP has gained interest due to its proposed anti-inflammatory and neuromodulatory properties. However, it is still unclear whether vita...

Previous studies have shown that acupuncture and electroacupuncture (EA) are effective in the treatment of patients with low back pain. However, there is little evidence to support the use of one intervention over the other. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in the treatment of pain and disability...

Investigar a relação entre o ângulo‐q e intensidade da dor anterior no joelho, capacidade funcional, valgo dinâmico de joelho e torque abdutor do quadril em mulheres com síndrome da dor patelofemoral (SDPF).

Background: It is theorized that increased dynamic knee valgus relates to decreased hip posterolateral muscle strength. Objective: The aim here was to assess the relationship between the frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) of the knee and hip and trunk muscle strength in women with and without patellofemoral pain (PFP). Methods: The sample c...

Chronic low back pain is one of the most common problematic health conditions worldwide and is highly associated with disability, quality of life, emotional changes, and work absenteeism. Graded activity programs, based on cognitive behavioral therapy, and exercises are common treatments for patients with low back pain. However, recent evidence has...

Introduction: Proximal and distal influences on the knee may be related as etiological factors of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). The distal factors include subtalar excessive pronation as well as medial tibia rotation, but no study has investigated whether ankle weakness could lead to alterations that influence the patellofemoral joint. Thus...

Background Low back pain is a relevant public health problem, being an important cause of work absenteeism worldwide, as well as affecting the quality of life of sufferers and their individual functional performances. Supervised active physical routines and of cognitive-behavioral therapies are recommended for the treatment of chronic Low back pain...

The purpose of the study was to compare hip agonist-antagonist isometric strength ratios between females with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFP) and pain-free control group. One hundred and twenty females between 15 and 40 years of age (control group: n=60; PFP group: n=60) participated. Hip adductor, abductor, medial rotator, lateral rotator, flex...

Hip and knee muscle weaknesses have been associated with the onset of anterior knee pain (AKP). Therefore, the understanding of how squats exercises can be performed in order to optimize the electrical activity of these muscles is relevant for physical therapy treatments. To compare the electromyographic activity of patella and pelvic stabilizers d...

Purpose: To evaluate the muscular relaxation of the upper trapezius induced by interferential current (IFC) application during rest and functional activities using surface electromyography registration (EMG). Method: We evaluated the "root mean square" value (RMS) of the upper trapezius during rest and functional activities in subjects with neck di...