Self-administered stretching exercises are as effective as motor control exercises for people with chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomised trial.

QUESTION: In people with chronic non-specific low back pain, what is the effect of self-administered stretching exercises relative to motor control exercises on pain intensity, disability, fear avoidance, global perceived effect and flexibility?

DESIGN

Randomised trial with concealed allocation, intention-to-treat analysis and blinding of assessors.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred people with chronic non-specific low back pain.

INTERVENTIONS: The self-stretching exercise group performed 6 stretches in 40-minute sessions. The motor control exercise group performed trunk stabilising exercises in 40-minute sessions. Both groups performed weekly supervised sessions for 8 weeks with one or more home sessions/week.

OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were pain intensity (0 to 10 scale) and disability (Oswestry Disability Index). The secondary outcomes were the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire, global perceived effect, and the fingertip-to-floor test. Measures were taken at baseline and at 8, 13 and 26 weeks.

RESULTS

On the 0 to 10 scale, the between-group difference in pain intensity was negligible, with a mean difference of roughly 0 (95% CI -1 to 1) at each time point. Similarly, the between-group difference on the 100-point disability scale was negligible: MD -1 (95% CI -3 to 1) at week 8, MD 1 (95% CI -1 to 3) at week 13 and MD 0 (95% CI -1 to 2) at week 26. The two interventions also had similar effects on the secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSION

In people with chronic non-specific low back pain, self-stretching exercises had very similar effects to motor control exercises on pain intensity, disability, fear avoidance, global perceived effect and flexibility up to 18 weeks beyond the end of an 8-week program. Given the established effectiveness of motor control exercises, either intervention could be recommended to people with chronic low back pain. The choice of intervention might be directed by patient preference.

REGISTRATION: NCT03128801.