Do Back School and/or supervised walking improve reported pain and spine flexibility in sedentary women with chronic low back pain (LBP)?
From August 2002 to March 2004, one hundred nineteen volunteers sedentary women with chronic LBP and age ranging from 32 to 60 years old, randomly allocated to four groups of participants assigned as Back School (BS; N=28), Supervised Walking (W; N=32), Back School and Supervised Walking (BS+W; N=29), and Control Group (CG; N=30) were submitted to interventions once a week for 5 consecutive weeks and followed for up to 6 months. The groups BS, W, and BS+W received LBP-targeted lectures and on-place practical sessions of each respective intervention. CG received print information about LBP and 5 different lectures unrelated to LBP.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
119
Patients were submitted once a week for 5 consecutive weeks to sessions of 45 minutes including: 15-minute lectures about basics of spine's anatomy, ergonomics, techniques of lifting and transportation of weights and volumes, body posture in several daily tasks and situations, and spine preventive care; 30 minutes of on-place supervised exercises for posture and spine flexibility (muscle stretching, relaxation, strengthening)
Patients were submitted once a week for 5 consecutive weeks to sessions of 45 minutes including: 15-minute lectures about basics of physical activity, its advantages and benefits, barriers and facilitators, types and opportunities; 30 minutes of on-place supervised walking in group.
Center for Health Promotion - Hospital das Clínicas - FMUSP
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Intensity of Low Back Pain (LBP) Self-Estimated by Visual Analogical Scale (VAS)
Patients were asked to indicate their perception about their LBP intensity with a cross on a line without marks, ranging from 1 (very light pain) through 10 (very strong pain)
Time frame: 6 months
Spine Flexibility (3rd Fingertip to Floor - 3FF).
Patients in up-right position with joined feet and stretched out arms were asked to bend the spine as much as possible without bending the knees; the least achieved distance between the 3rd fingertip and the floor was measured in centimeters with a proper rule.
Time frame: 6 months
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Weekly sessions of 90 minutes including: 30-minute lectures about basics of spine's anatomy, ergonomics, techniques of lifting and transportation of weights and volumes, body posture in several daily tasks and situations, spine preventive care, and about physical activity, its advantages and benefits, barriers and facilitators, types and opportunities
Weekly sessions of 45 minutes including lectures about: stress control, healthy nutrition (2 lectures), sleep hygiene and injury prevention.; beside the 2-page folder content this group received no other information about LBP, BS or walking all along the follow-up.