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SUPERVISED EXERCISE HELPS CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN.

There is no single best approach to managing chronic back pain, although improving fitness has been shown to help. How should this exercise be delivered? British investigators studied 71 adults who had suffered back pain for a mean of over 18 months. All patients attended a "back school" educational program and were taught exercises to do at home. Half were randomized to a group fitness program, consisting of eight one-hour exercise sessions (stretching, strengthening, and light aerobics) over four weeks. Of note is that 12 controls crossed over to the fitness program early in the study. As compared with controls, patients assigned to the fitness group improved in nearly all areas assessed. Walking capacity increased by 25 percent and pain was reduced by over 40 percent as compared with no or little improvement in the control group, and there were also improvements in disability scores and self-reported functional ability. These differences were seen by the 7- week follow-up and persisted at 6 months. Comment: This study confirms that exercise can help in the management of chronic back pain. However, simply recommending exercise is not nearly as effective as having patients come to a supervised exercise class.

— KI Marton

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine February 14, 1995

Citation(s):

Frost H, et al. Randomised controlled trial for evaluation of fitness programme for patients with chronic low back pain. BMJ 1995 Jan 21 310 151-154.

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