Do lumbar stabilising exercises reduce pain and disability in patients with recurrent low back pain?

Question

Does a graded exercise program emphasising lumbar stabilising exercises reduce pain and disability at 12 months, compared with a walking program, for patients with recurrent low back pain?

Design

Randomised controlled trial.

Setting

A single private physiotherapy clinic in Sweden.

Participants

71 patients with recurrent mechanical low back pain (> 8 weeks duration, with at least 1 pain-free period during the past year) and without leg pain were allocated to one of two groups, using a concealed allocation process. The groups were comparable at baseline with respect to age, sex, proportion of participants who had sought care for back pain, and pain duration (approximately 10 years).

Interventions

The graded exercise program and the walking program were both 8 weeks’ duration. The exercise program was individually supervised by a physiotherapist weekly for 45 minutes. In the walking program, patients met with a physiotherapist for 45 minutes in week 1 and again in week 8. The exercise program consisted primarily of stabilising exercises for the lumbar spine, commencing with re-learning activation of the transversus abdominis and multifidus muscles, with assistance of a pressure biofeedfack cuff. Exercises were progressed according to clinical judgement, pain levels, and movement control and quality. Progression entailed incorporation of muscle activation in upright positions and during functional activities. Continued implementation of the exercises in daily life was encouraged. The reference group were instructed to walk for 30 minutes daily at the fastest pace that did not aggravate pain. Walking compliance was monitored with a self-completed daily diary.

Outcomes

The primary outcomes were perceived pain and disability at 12 months, measured by self-completed questionnaires returned by post. Disability was measured with the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (scale 0–100, where 100 = maximum disability). Pain was measured with 100-mm visual analogue scale (where 100 = worst pain imaginable).

Results

At 12 months 86% of patients were followed up. At this time there was no clinically-important difference between the groups with respect to median (IQR) change in pain: exercise group –12 (–34 to –3); walking group –12 (–22 to 0). For disability at 12 months, the between-group difference in median scores was 8 on the Oswestry score: exercise group –10 (–20 to –2); walking group –2 (–12 to 2).

Conclusion

Lumbar stabilising exercises appear to have a similar effect on pain and disability for patients with recurrent low back pain as a daily walking program.