Effectiveness of an app-delivered, self-management exercise program in public safety workers with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Public safety workers (PSW), such as police officers and firefighters, face a high prevalence of chronic low back pain (LBP). Effective and accessible interventions are essential to improve their health and job performance.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of a m-health-based core stability exercise self-management program combined with health education compared to m-health-based health education alone in PSW with chronic LBP.

METHODS

Forty-seven PSW with chronic LBP were randomly assigned to receive a smartphone app-based self-managed exercise program (twice a week) plus health education (INT; n = 23) or health education alone (CON; n = 24) for eight weeks. Primary outcomes were pain intensity and disability at 8 weeks. PSW were assessed preintervention and 8 and 16 weeks after the randomization.

RESULTS

Those in the INT group had a greater reduction in pain intensity (MD = -1.54; 95 %CI -2.95, -0.13) and disability (MD = -3.23; 95 %CI -5.51, -0.95) than those in the CON group at 8 weeks. Quality of life, self-efficacy, and anxiety improved for those in the INT group compared to those in the CON group at eight weeks. The treatment effects remained for disability, quality of life, and anxiety in the follow-up period of 16 weeks. No between-group differences were found for depression, stress, sleep quality, or neuromuscular outcomes.

CONCLUSION

A m-health-based core stability exercise self-management program combined with health education was more effective in reducing pain intensity, disability, and anxiety, as well as improving quality of life and self-efficacy, compared to m-health-based health education alone in PSW with chronic LBP.