Increasing Long-Term Physical Activity After Lumbar Spine Surgery

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02611427

Enrollment

260

Registered

2015-11-20

Start date

2015-11-11

Completion date

2026-06-30

Last updated

2025-10-17

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

Conditions

Lumbar Spine Degenerative Changes

Keywords

spine, lumbar, postoperative, physical activity

Brief summary

After recuperating from low back surgery patients often perpetuate a sedentary lifestyle because they are concerned about injury and recurrent pain. The objective of this study is to test the feasibility of a program to increase lifestyle walking starting several months after low back surgery.

Detailed description

The primary objective of this RCT is to compare energy expenditure from walking between an experimental group that receives a multi-component intervention based on the Health Belief Model of Behavior Change versus a control group. Patients who had surgery for a degenerative condition will be randomized postop when their surgeons deem them orthopedically stable to increase walking (at about 3 months).

Interventions

BEHAVIORALEducation/Self-efficacy

The education/self-efficacy group will 1) receive information about benefits of physical activity and national activity guidelines, 2) receive instruction on how to increase lifestyle walking, 3) use movement monitoring devices, 4) make a walking contract and 5) receive interval contract-directed encouragement from study personnel.

BEHAVIORALEducation

The education group will receive information about safe physical activity.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 80 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Inclusion Criteria: Patients will be eligible if they had lumbar surgery for a degenerative condition and their surgeon deems it safe for them to walk more. *

Exclusion criteria

Patients will be excluded if they had any new cardiopulmonary symptoms since surgery.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Weekly energy expenditure in kilocalories per week as measured by the Paffenbarger Physical Activity and Exercise Index	16 weeks	Change in enrollment to 16-week Paffenbarger Physical Activity and Exercise Index

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Disability due to pain as measured by the Oswestry Disability Index	16 weeks	Change in enrollment to 16-week Oswestry Disability Index

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026