None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The aim of this study is to investigate how well people with low back pain can manage their symptoms following a video-game exercise program. We are specifically interested in people who are currently awaiting treatment for their back at the Physiotherapy Department of Westmead Hospital. Low back pain is the leading cause of disability in Australia and is more disabling in older people. Exercise programs are frequently used to treat low back pain and are known to offer moderate improvements for pain and function. However, usually exercise programs require supervision and the need for patients to travel to treatment sites, which can be problematic for older people with disability. Additionally, limited availability of health resources and an increasing number of people with chronic diseases means patients are often on long waiting lists for treatment. Video-game exercises for low back pain could be particularly useful in older people because they can be implemented at home and therefore reduce the need to travel to treatment sites. This has the potential to reduce the number of people waiting for treatment in public hospitals and reduce management costs of chronic low back pain. Video-game exercises are starting to be used to treat a variety of conditions and have been shown to increase motivation for completing a home-based exercise program. Therefore, this study will determine whether video-game exercises done in the home are effective in the management of low back pain.
Interventions
Video-game intervention group
Participants in the video-game exercise group will participate in an 8 week home-based unsupervised exercise program using Nintendo Wii console technology and the Wii Fit Plus software. The video-game exercise protocol consists of a range of exercises that will be pre-selected from the Wii Fit Plus software by a research physiotherapist. Exercises will be included under the following categories: warm up, functional muscle strengthening, aerobic, and balance. Each p
Video-game intervention group Participants in the video-game exercise group will participate in an 8 week home-based unsupervised exercise program using Nintendo Wii console technology and the Wii Fit Plus software. The video-game exercise protocol consists of a range of exercises that will be pre-selected from the Wii Fit Plus software by a research physiotherapist. Exercises will be included under the following categories: warm up, functional muscle strengthening, aerobic, and balance. Each participant will be able to self-select exercises within each category based on their preference for certain exercises and recommendations by the physiotherapist, thus allowing participants to tailor their exercise program. Exercise sessions will be tailored to last 60 minutes (10 minutes warm up, 20 minutes functional muscle strengthening, 15 minutes aerobic exercises and 15 minutes balance exercises) and are to be completed 3 times per week, with at least one day of rest between exercise sessions. Participants will be asked to maintain exercise intensity at 12-13 (‘somewhat hard ’) on the Borg rating scale of perceived exertion (RPE) during the functional muscle strengthening and aerobic exercise components. The research physiotherapist will schedule fortnightly phone calls with the participant to monitor for any adverse events , and to encourage the participant to engage in more difficult exercises if appropriate. The participant will also be given an information booklet containing information on how to safely progress their exercises. In addition, if the participant is using the Wii Fit Plus software often enough and improving their scores on certain games, the software will give the participant the option of progressing their exercises through an increase in the amount of repetitions, duration or speed of a task. Participants will be provided with a choice of weekly reminders to complete exercise sessions and to fill in their exercise diary, via emails or telephone calls. The exercise diary will be used to monitor adherence.
Sponsors
Ms Katherine Maka
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
55 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
i) over 55 years old; ii) currently on the waiting list to receive outpatient physiotherapy treatment, which doesn't fall within the next 8 weeks; iii) experienced low back pain for at least the last 3 months; iv) currently has low back pain which is greater than 3/10 on a pain scale; v) sufficient English ability; vi) mobilises independently without the use of any aids (e.g. walking stick, walking frame, etc.); vi) owns a HDMI compatible television at home (this is a requirement to use the video-game equipment).
Exclusion criteria
i) presence of a serious pathology in the spine (such as fracture, metastatic disease, spinal stenosis, cauda equina syndrome); ii) presence of any medical condition or disability that will prevent participating in the exercise program; iii) demonstrates a high degree of fear of movement due to their low back pain; iv) high risk of cardiovascular complications; v) high risk of falls
Outcome results
None listed