“Explain pain” education and exercise classes compared to “explain pain” education alone, for individuals with chronic low back pain: A single-blind RCT, pilot study.
Cormac G Ryan MSc, Heather G Gray MSc, Mary Newton PhD and Malcolm H Granat PhD
School of health and Social Care, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, G4 0BA.
Introduction: “Explain pain” education and exercise classes are two widely used interventions for individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of these two strategies when used in combination. Methods: Thirty-eight individuals with CLBP were randomly assigned to the education and exercise (EDEX) group [n=20] or the education only (ED) group [n=18]. The education consisted of a single three hour “Explain pain” session. The exercise classes consisted of six weekly sessions of physiotherapist led “Back to fitness” exercise classes. Pain, function, activity monitoring, physical performance testing and a range of psychosocial outcome measures were assessed pre and post treatment and at three month follow-up (except activity monitoring). Results: Post treatment, 50 foot walk (10.76 vs. 9.00 seconds, p = 0.03) and 5 minute walk test performance (434 vs. 491 meters, p = 0.06) were greater in the ED group. There was also a higher level of function (6.0 vs. 2.5, p = 0.08) and a lower level of pain (12.5 vs. 1.3, p = 0.08) in the ED group. Within groups, from pre-to-post intervention, the ED group significantly increased their physical activity levels (8040 vs. 9165 steps/day, p = 0.01), but the EDEX group did not (8329 vs. 8927 steps/day, p = 0.17). There was no statistical difference between groups at three month follow-up. Conclusions: A single “explain pain” education session may be superior to a combination of “explain pain” education and exercise classes, in the short-term, for individuals with CLBP.
References
none