Previous studies have shown Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) results in sustained clinically important improvements compared to a variety of interventions for persistent low back pain (LBP). However, CFT is yet to be evaluated in people with persistent LBP who are affected by health inequality and multimorbidity despite the strong association between LBP, socioeconimic deprivation, multimorbidity, and increased prevalance in people from minority ethnic backgrounds. This study will aim to examine the cost and effectiveness of CFT in a population living with LBP, adversely affected by health inequality and multimorbidity in areas of social deprivation in Coventry, United Kingdom.

This study will be conducted in two phases. In Phase 1, a single cohort study will be conducted, whereby Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) will be delivered to 150 participants recruited from the physiotherapy waiting list.

Healthcare utilisation data will be collected retrospectively from participants electronic health records and the physiotherapy referral information for the 13 weeks before the date of enrolment. Clinical outcomes will be collected at baseline prior to participants beginning the intervention. Both healthcare utilisation and clinical outcomes will be collected on two further occasions, at 13 and 26 weeks. CFT will be delivered by six physiotherapists who have undergone a comprehensive training programme and demonstrated ability to deliver the intervention to a competency standard, assessed by a CFT tutor using a predefined competency framework used in previous CFT studies. Treatment fidelity will be assessed throughout the study.

In Phase 2, qualitative semi-structured interviews and/or dyad interviews will be conducted with at least 10 participants and their treating physiotherapist. This aims to explore the experiences and acceptability of the intervention for people from this population, the intervention training and the study of participants and physiotherapists.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Documented LBP for more than three months.
• Over 18 years old.
• Currently not working - either unemployed or in receipt of long-term sickness benefits at time of enrolment on the study.
• Living in 20% most deprived area of Coventry as defined by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).
• Documented physical and/or mental health co-morbidities (e.g., anxiety, depression, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease).
• Prescribed medications not currently recommended for LBP by NICE Guidelines - opioids, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, antidepressants and/or gabapentinoids (NICE, 2020).
• Ability to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Lack capacity, or unable, to provide informed consent.
• Have signs and/or symptoms of serious spinal pathology (less than 2% of all people with LBP (Hartvisgen et al., 2018)) e.g., fracture, infection, acute loss of lower limb motor control, symptoms of cauda equina syndrome or cancer, acute inflammatory disease (e.g. ankylosing spondylitis).
• Have any medical condition that prevents from being physically active.
• Are currently pregnant or are three months post-partum.
• Are unable or unwilling to travel to CoCHC for the intervention.