Article

Many women have low back pain (LBP) or pelvic girdle pain (PGP)
during pregnancy, but there is limited evidence of effective primary and
secondary preventive strategies. The purpose of this study was to
investigate whether a group-based exercise program can reduce the prevalence and
severity of LBP and PGP in pregnant women. DESIGN: An observer-blinded randomized
controlled trial with equal assignments to a training group and a control group
was conducted. The study was conducted in primary care maternity units
in 2 suburban municipalities in the southeastern part of Norway. PATIENTS: The
participants were 257 pregnant women who were healthy and between 18 and 40 years
of age before gestation week 20. INTERVENTION: The training group received
supervised exercises in groups once a week, and the control group received
standard care. MEASUREMENTS: The main outcome measures were self-reported LBP and
self-reported PGP. Secondary outcome measures were pain intensity in the morning
and evening, disability, and 8-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-8) Physical
Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores. Follow-up
measurements were performed at gestation weeks 24, 28, 32, and 36. RESULTS:
Overall, there was no effect of the program on the prevalence of PGP (odds ratio
= 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.66 to 1.59) or LBP (odds ratio = 0.77,
95% CI = 0.50 to 1.19). For the secondary outcomes, the estimated mean
differences between the groups were -0.4 (95% CI = -0.8 to 0.1) for pain
intensity in the morning, -0.4 (95% CI = -1.0 to 0.2) for pain intensity in the
evening, -1.0 (95% CI = -2.2 to 0.0) for disability, 1.8 (95% CI = 0.0 to 3.7)
for the SF-8 PCS, and -0.6 (95% CI = -2.2 to 1.4) for the SF-8 MCS. LIMITATIONS:
Due to low statistical power, the estimates for the primary outcomes are
imprecise. CONCLUSIONS: Supervised group exercise did not reduce the prevalence
of LBP or PGP in pregnancy.

Langue : ANGLAIS