Chiropractic and Exercise for Seniors With Low Back Pain

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

240 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2003-10-31

Study Completion Date

2008-03-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this randomized clincal trial is to assess the relative effectiveness of three conservative treatment approaches for seniors with chronic low back pain: 1) chiropractic manual treatment plus home exercise, 2) supervised exercise plus home exercise and 3) home exercise alone.

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Detailed Description

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Low back pain (LBP) is a significant health problem for both young and geriatric individuals. Of particular concern is that conditions associated with LBP, such as impaired strength and flexibility, can have very serious consequences for an older individual's independence and overall health.

The broad, long-term objective of this research is to identify effective therapies for low back pain (LBP) and to discover the best methods for enhancing health and functional capacity in the elderly population. This study is a multi-methods clinical trial consisting of a randomized clinical trial (RCT), a cost-effectiveness study alongside the RCT, and a qualitative study nested in the RCT.

This trial builds upon a previous study of chiropractic and exercise funded by HRSA, and focuses on elderly patients with sub-acute and chronic low back pain.

PRIMARY AIMS

* To determine the relative clinical effectiveness the following treatments for LBP patients 65 years and older in both the short-term (after 12 weeks) and long-term (after 52 weeks), using low back pain as the main outcome measure

1. chiropractic manual treatment plus home exercise
2. supervised rehabilitative exercise plus home exercise
3. home exercise

SECONDARY AIMS
* To estimate the short- and long-term relative effectiveness of the three interventions using:
* Patient-rated outcomes: low back disability, general health status, patient satisfaction, improvement, and medication use measured by self-report questionnaires
* Objective functional performance outcomes: spinal motion, trunk strength and endurance, and functional ability measured by examiners masked to treatment group assignment
* Cost measures: direct and indirect costs of treatment measured by questionnaires, phone interviews, and medical records.
* To describe elderly LBP patients' perceptions of treatment and the issues they consider when determining their satisfaction with care using qualitative methods nested within the RCT.

Conditions

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Low Back Pain

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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1

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Chiropractic Manual treatment + home exercise (procedure+behavior)

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

The number of treatments will be determined by the individual chiropractor. Chiropractic manual treatment will be limited to gentle spinal manipulation, mobilization and flexion-distraction therapy with light soft tissue massage as indicated to facilitate the manual therapy.

Patients will attend 4, 45-minute small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about low back pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

2

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Supervised rehabilitative exercise+home exercise

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

The rehabilitative exercise program will consist of 20, 1-hour sessions. It is a modification of exercise protocols used in previous studies by the investigators and incorporates recommendations of leading rehabilitative exercise specialists.

Patients will attend 4, 45-minute small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about low back pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

3

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Home exercise

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Patients will attend 4, 45-minute small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about low back pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

Interventions

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Chiropractic Manual treatment + home exercise (procedure+behavior)

The number of treatments will be determined by the individual chiropractor. Chiropractic manual treatment will be limited to gentle spinal manipulation, mobilization and flexion-distraction therapy with light soft tissue massage as indicated to facilitate the manual therapy.

Patients will attend 4, 45-minute small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about low back pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Supervised rehabilitative exercise+home exercise

The rehabilitative exercise program will consist of 20, 1-hour sessions. It is a modification of exercise protocols used in previous studies by the investigators and incorporates recommendations of leading rehabilitative exercise specialists.

Patients will attend 4, 45-minute small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about low back pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Home exercise

Patients will attend 4, 45-minute small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about low back pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Sub-Acute and chronic low back pain (Defined as current episode more than 6 weeks duration.)
* Quebec Task Force classifications 1, 2, 3 and 4. (This includes patients with back pain, stiffness or tenderness, with or without musculoskeletal signs and neurological signs.{1570})
* 65 years of age and older
* Independent ambulation
* Community dwelling (residency outside nursing home)
* Score of 20 or more on Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination{13246}
* Stable prescription medication plan (no changes in prescription medications that affect musculoskeletal pain in previous month)

Exclusion Criteria

* Referred low back pain from local joint lesions of the lower extremities or from visceral diseases
* Significant infectious disease Determined by history or by referral to supplementary diagnostic tests
* Ongoing treatment for low back pain by other health care providers
* Mean baseline low back pain score of 20 percentage points or less
* Contraindications to exercise Determined by history or by referral to supplementary diagnostic tests (i.e., uncontrolled arrhythmias, third degree heart block, recent ECG changes, unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, acute congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, poorly controlled blood pressure, uncontrolled metabolic disease
* Contraindications to spinal manipulation (i.e. Progressive neurological deficits blood clotting disorders; infectious and non-infectious inflammatory or destructive tissue changes of the spine; severe osteoporosis)

Minimum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No