Topic: Primary Care Research Network for England
Conditions
Interventions
Group A: Normal care
Group B: Course of lessons in the Alexander Technique, 10 weekly lessons
Group C: Course of supervised physiotherapy exercises, 10 weekly lessons
Group D: Combined group
Follow U
Sponsors
University of Southampton (UK)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Age 18-65 2. Experiencing a current episode of back pain with Roland Morris score of 4 or more today and either 2.1. Has previously consulted their general practitioner (GP) with back pain or 2.2. Is currently consulting their GP with back pain 3. Currently has back pain that has lasted for 3 weeks or more (does not have to be constant pain but must be at least 14 days out of 21 in pain) 4. No previous experience (several lessons or practicing) of AT 5. No clinical indicators of serious spinal pathology (past history of cancer with renewed episode of back pain, osteoporosis) 6. No current nerve root pain (sciatic pain below knee). Nerve root pain above knee is ok 7. No previous spinal surgery 8. Torsional range +/- 10 degrees 9. No history of psychosis or major alcohol abuse 10. Able to walk 100 meters 11. Not pregnant 12. Not pending litigation 13. Not terminally ill 14. No unexplained fever; Target Gender: Male & Female; Upper Age Limit 65 no age limit or unit specified ; Lower Age Limit 18 no age limit or unit specified
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Previous experience of AT 2. The over 65s (serious spinal pathology more likely) 3. Clinical indicators of serious spinal pathology 4. Previous spinal surgery (outcome may be very different, and groups too small to analyse) 5. History of psychosis or major alcohol abuse (difficulty completing outcomes) 6. Perceived inability to walk 100 metres (exercise difficult) 7. Pregnancy 8. Pending litigation
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Severity of back pain; Timepoint(s): Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Secondary measures for back pain 1.1. Pain and disability (Von Korff scale) 1.2. Deyo 'Troublesomeness' scale 1.3. Overall improvement ( Health transition 28) 2. Fear of activity - the short version of Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) scale 3. Modified Enablement scale 12 4. We will also measure quality of life (EQ5D) and NHS resource use. Health service resource use will be quantified using data collected from the general practitioner (GP) notes after one year's follow-up - the number of visits to the surgery, who was consulted (i.e. the practice nurse or GP), the name, dose and duration of any drugs prescribed, and all referrals (and who the patient was referred to plus the number of times they were seen). Resource use will be valued using market prices where possible and other published sources, such as NHS reference costs. In addition, patients will be asked if they have self referred to anyone for back pain (e.g. chiropractor, physiotherapist) the number of times they were seen and how much they paid per visit. The main emphasis of this study is not an economic analysis: however, for any pragmatic effectiveness trial to follow this trial then this data will be useful for a modelling exercise to help justify the trial groups. | — |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed