Article

Exercise benefits patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain;
however, the most effective type of exercise remains unknown. This study compared outcomes after motor control exercises, sling exercises, and
general exercises for low back pain. DESIGN: This was a randomized controlled
trial with a 1-year follow-up. SETTING: The study was conducted in a primary care
setting in Norway. PATIENTS: The participants were patients with chronic
nonspecific low back pain (n=109). INTERVENTIONS: The interventions in this study
were low-load motor control exercises, high-load sling exercises, or general
exercises, all delivered by experienced physical therapists, once a week for 8
weeks. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome measure was pain reported on the Numeric
Pain Rating Scale after treatment and at a 1-year follow-up. Secondary outcome
measures were self-reported activity limitation (assessed with the Oswestry
Disability Index), clinically examined function (assessed with the
Fingertip-to-Floor Test), and fear-avoidance beliefs after intervention. RESULTS:
The postintervention assessment showed no significant differences among groups
with respect to pain (overall group difference) or any of the outcome measures.
Mean (95% confidence interval) group differences for pain reduction after
treatment and after 1 year were 0.3 (-0.7 to 1.3) and 0.4 (-0.7 to 1.4) for motor
control exercises versus sling exercises, 0.7 (-0.6 to 2.0) and 0.3 (-0.8 to 1.4)
for sling exercises versus general exercises, and 1.0 (-0.1 to 2.0) and 0.7 (-0.3
to 1.7) for motor control exercises versus general exercises. LIMITATIONS: The
nature of the interventions made blinding impossible. CONCLUSIONS: This study
gave no evidence that 8 treatments with individually instructed motor control
exercises or sling exercises were superior to general exercises for chronic low back pain.

Langue : ANGLAIS