3 May 2005, Vol 142, No. 9>

Email

American College of Physicians

You must be logged in as an individual user to share content.

Copyright in the material you requested is held by American College Of Physicians (unless otherwise noted). This email ability is provided as a courtesy, and by using it you agree that that you are requesting the material solely for personal, non-commercial use, and that it is subject to ACP's Conditions of Use. The information provided in order to email this topic will not be used to send unsolicited email, nor will it be furnished to third parties. Please refer to American College Of Physicians's Privacy Policy for further information.

Copyright © American College Of Physicians. All rights reserved.
Share
Get Citation

Best Types of Exercise for Low Back Pain. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2005 May;142(9):I-72.

Download citation file:

RIS (Zotero)

EndNote

BibTex

Medlars

ProCite

RefWorks

Reference Manager

Copyright © 2013 The American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.
PDF

Summaries for Patients | 3 May 2005

Best Types of Exercise for Low Back Pain FREE

The summary below is from the full report titled “Systematic Review: Strategies for Using Exercise Therapy To Improve Outcomes in Chronic Low Back Pain.” It is in the 3 May 2005 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (volume 142, pages 776-785). The authors are J.A. Hayden, M.W. van Tulder, and G. Tomlinson.

Ann Intern Med. 2005;142(9):I-72. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-142-9-200505030-00006

Text Size: A A A

Article

Comments

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Chronic low back pain is a common problem that causes discomfort and disability. Treatment goals include decreasing pain and helping patients resume their normal activities. Treatment options include exercise therapy, patient education, and pain-relieving drugs (such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). There are many forms of exercise therapies, and we do not know which particular types best improve outcomes.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

To see which types of exercise therapies reduce pain and improve physical function in adults with chronic low back pain.

Who was studied?

Adults with chronic low back pain who participated in 43 trials of exercise therapy.

How was the study done?

The researchers searched the medical literature up to October 2004 to find randomized, controlled trials that compared exercise therapy with placebo, no treatment, conservative management, or another exercise group. They classified the types of exercises that made up the interventions. They also looked at several characteristics of the exercise therapy interventions, including whether they were delivered as group or as individual programs and whether they were supervised or done independently without supervision. They then combined data from the trials to explore which exercises reduced pain and improved physical function.

What did the researchers find?

Stretching and strengthening were the most effective exercises for improving pain and function, respectively. Exercise performed over longer periods of time seemed more effective than exercise involving less than 20 hours of total time. Also, supervised programs that were individually tailored seemed most effective.

What were the limitations of the study?

Studies used different ways to measure pain intensity and function. Some studies were small and of low quality. Although the researchers thoroughly searched for evidence, they may have missed unpublished exercise trials with pertinent evidence.

What are the implications of the study?

Stretching and strengthening exercises that are tailored to the individual and supervised by professionals may be the best forms of exercise therapy for adults with chronic low back pain.

Figures

Tables

References

Letters

NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).

Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
Cone
AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.

All you need to read in the other general jounals
BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.

Comments

Please read the other comments before posting. Contributors must reveal any conflict of interest.
Comments are moderated and will appear on the site at the discretion of The American College of Physicians editorial staff. Please be sure your email address is updated in your account, otherwise the American College of Physicians will not be able to contact you about your comment.

* = Required Field

Comment Author(s)* (if multiple authors, separate names by comma)

Example: John Doe

Affiliation & Institution*

Disclosure of Any Conflicts of Interest* (applies to the past 5 years and foreseeable future) Indicate any potential conflicts of interest of each author below, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (eg, employment/affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria, speakers bureau, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents filed, received, or pending). If all authors have none, check "No potential conflicts or relevant financial interests" in the box below. Please also indicate any funding received in support of this work. The information will be posted with your response.

Please disclose any conflicts of interest or check the box below.

No potential conflicts or relevant financial interests

Comment Title*

Comment*

Get Audio Code

Submit Cancel

Submit a Comment

Summary for Patients

Clinical Slide Sets

Terms of Use

The In the Clinic® slide sets are owned and copyrighted by the American College of Physicians (ACP). All text, graphics, trademarks, and other intellectual property incorporated into the slide sets remain the sole and exclusive property of the ACP. The slide sets may be used only by the person who downloads or purchases them and only for the purpose of presenting them during not-for-profit educational activities. Users may incorporate the entire slide set or selected individual slides into their own teaching presentations but may not alter the content of the slides in any way or remove the ACP copyright notice. Users may make print copies for use as hand-outs for the audience the user is personally addressing but may not otherwise reproduce or distribute the slides by any means or media, including but not limited to sending them as e-mail attachments, posting them on Internet or Intranet sites, publishing them in meeting proceedings, or making them available for sale or distribution in any unauthorized form, without the express written permission of the ACP. Unauthorized use of the In the Clinic slide sets will constitute copyright infringement.