Exercise rehabilitation programs for chronic low back pain

In patients with chronic non-specific low back pain, are core stability exercise programs as good or better than general exercise for relief of pain

Status

Not yet recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12611000229976

Enrollment

Registered

2011-03-03

Start date

2011-04-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Of significant concern for healthcare treatment costs around the world are those individuals with chronic low back pain (LBP). While exercise is a first-choice treatment for LBP there is no consensus on the best type of exercise to use, with all modes of exercise equally effective. Core stability exercises are movements for the trunk with bodyweight resistance. Core stability training is thought to be the most effective exercise mode to improve neuromuscular control of the trunk, however research evidence to support this is lacking. Improving neuromuscular control of the trunk is one of the primary physiological mechanisms by which improvement in low back pain patients is observed. There is a lack of research comparing core stability training to other modes of exercise for low back pain. If the literature reviews are indeed correct that no one mode of exercise is superior to any other, it may be likely that an exclusively aerobic training modality may be just as effective as a core stability program for improving pain, disabilty, fear avoidance, and neuromuscular control of the trunk. The aim of this study is to randomly assign participants with chronic low back pain to an 8 week exercise trial of either core stability or general aerobic exercise. Both groups will be directly supervised, and measurements of pain, disability, fear avoidance beliefs, and trunk neuromuscular control will be made before and after the 8 week program.

Interventions

8-week exercise rehabilitation program. Pilates based exercise involving stretching, floor based exercise, reformer based whole body exercise. Prescription is 3 x 1 hours sessions per week for 8-weeks. All directly supervised in a group format (10 people per group session).

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 45 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Male and female participants with chronic non-specific low back pain. This group excludes those with specific low back pathologies (as assessed from described history of participants), which introduces confounding factors for interpretation of the results. Participants will have had LBP for at least 12 weeks and have provided written informed consent confirming their participation. Participants must have a minimum level of disability caused by their LBP that scores at least 15% in the Oswestry Functional Disability Index (ODI) to be included in the study. This will discriminate the level of disability from that experienced by the normal population.

Exclusion criteria

Participants will be excluded for the following reasons: presence of severe postural abnormality or neuromuscular disorder, previous diagnosis of pathology (confirmed by previous magnetic resonance imaging or radiograph), presence of pain radiating below the knee with a passive straight leg raise indicating disc and nerve involvement. Participants must not have engaged in any specific core stability training program in the last 3-months, and must not be regularly seeing a physiotherapist or any spinal manipulation practitioner.

Outcome results