EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT PHYSICAL THERAPY EXERCISE TECHNIQUES IN CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN; A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY

Abstract

Purpose: Exercise therapy is the most common conservative treatment for LBP as it is easily accessible and can be individually tailored to the needs of the patient, but no evidence has been presented that one exercise approach is superior to the other. Exercise has generally been associated with improving psychosocial aspects of pain, such as kinesiophobia, depression, and anxiety in LBP patients, but its effect on the paraspinal muscles needs to be focused on. For this reason, the aim of our study is to evaluate different types of exercises that will help increase neuromuscular facilitation and core stability in paraspinal muscles by considering patient satisfaction. Methods: A total of thirty-seven female patients with chronic low back pain were included in the study. The Oswestry Low Back Pain Questionnaire was used to assess functionality. Core stability was evaluated with a stabilizer. Pain intensity and satisfaction were measured with visual analog scale. Patients' kinesiophobia was assessed by using Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale. Patients were randomized into three groups according to the interventions as; proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) exercise group (n = 9), core stability exercise group (n = 14) and control (n = 14) group. The duration of applications was 3 days per week with a total of 6 weeks. Results: There was a group difference for core muscle strength (p = .045), Oswestry score (p = .001), pain intensity score (p = .003) and Tampa score (p = .001). There were significant gains for core muscle strength and Oswestry scores for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation and core stability groups (p < .05). Conclusion. Core stabilization exercises have additional effects to improve rehabilitation outcomes for patients and also the level of patient satisfaction was importantly different between all groups in favor to core stability with chronic low back pain.