Aerobic exercise training in addition to conventional physiotherapy for chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effect of adding aerobic exercise to conventional physiotherapy treatment for patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) in reducing pain and disability.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: A physiotherapy outpatient setting in Hong Kong.

Participants: Patients with chronic LBP (N=46) were recruited and randomly assigned to either a control (n=22) or an intervention (n=24) group.

Interventions: An 8-week intervention; both groups received conventional physiotherapy with additional individually tailored aerobic exercise prescribed only to the intervention group.

Main outcome measures: Visual analog pain scale, Aberdeen Low Back Pain Disability Scale, and physical fitness measurements were taken at baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 months from the commencement of the intervention. Multivariate analysis of variance was performed to examine between-group differences.

Results: Both groups demonstrated a significant reduction in pain (P<.001) and an improvement in disability (P<.001) at 8 weeks and 12 months; however, no differences were observed between groups. There was no significant difference in LBP relapse at 12 months between the 2 groups (χ(2)=2.30, P=.13).

Conclusions: The addition of aerobic training to conventional physiotherapy treatment did not enhance either short- or long-term improvement of pain and disability in patients with chronic LBP.