The Effects of Eight-Week Baduanjin Exercise on Chronic Low Back Pain and Disability Among Office Workers.

NCT ID: NCT07338045

Last Updated: 2026-01-13

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2026-03-15
• Study Completion Date: 2026-06-30

Brief Summary

Office workers often suffer from chronic low back pain due to long hours of sitting and poor posture. This study will test whether Baduanjin-a gentle, traditional Chinese exercise-can help reduce pain and improve physical function in office staff with long-standing back pain. Thirty participants will be randomly assigned to either practice Baduanjin for eight weeks or receive no special intervention. Researchers will measure changes in pain levels, movement ability, balance, posture, and daily functioning before and after the program. Baduanjin is a safe, low-cost, and easy-to-learn exercise that could be widely used in community health settings as a non-drug therapy for back pain.

Detailed Description

The modern office environment has led to increased sedentary behavior and poor postures among office workers, contributing significantly to chronic low back pain (LBP) and associated functional impairments. This condition not only reduces work productivity and quality of life but also increases healthcare costs and societal burden.

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effects of an eight-week Baduanjin exercise program on pain intensity, physical function, and disability in office workers with chronic LBP. Thirty eligible participants will be randomly allocated to either the Baduanjin group or a control group. The Baduanjin group will attend supervised Baduanjin training sessions three times per week for eight weeks, while the control group will maintain their usual routine without any specific intervention.

Outcome assessments will be conducted at baseline and immediately after the 8-week intervention. Primary outcomes include: (1) pain severity measured by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS); (2) joint mobility assessed using the Joint Mobility Scale; (3) balance function evaluated via the Berg Balance Scale; (4) postural risk analyzed by the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA); and (5) lumbar spine dysfunction determined by the Chinese version of the Oswestry Disability Index (CODI).

Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Continuous variables will be presented as mean ± standard deviation. A two-way repeated-measures ANOVA will be used to examine the interaction effects between group (Baduanjin vs. control) and time (pre- vs. post-intervention). A p-value < 0.05 will be considered statistically significant.

Findings from this study may support the integration of Baduanjin into primary healthcare and community-based rehabilitation programs as a safe, simple, and effective non-pharmacological intervention for chronic low back pain.

Conditions

Low Back Pain; Baduanjin

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Baduanjin group

The Baduanjin group convened at 5:00 p.m. on a daily basis for a period of one hour, five days a week, for a total of eight weeks. The intervention period involved a total of 40 exercises. The Baduanjin exercise was overseen by two senior coaches with a minimum of five years' experience in physical education.The training programme for the eight-duanjin exercise was based on the Fitness Qigong - Baduanjin, a publication by the State General Administration of Sport, which includes ten postures (including the beginning and ending postures) (Li et al., 2015).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Baduanjin Exercise Program

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A traditional Chinese qigong-based exercise program involving eight gentle movements designed to promote circulation, strengthen muscles, and improve balance. Participants will attend supervised sessions five times per week for 8 weeks, each lasting 45 minutes.

Control group

During the 8-week intervention period, participants in the control group will not receive any structured exercise intervention, including the Eight-Week Baduanjin Exercise Program or other physical therapy programs. They will continue with their usual daily activities without additional guidance related to low back pain management. After completion of the post-intervention data collection, participants in the control group will be offered access to the Eight-Week Baduanjin Exercise Program as a form of ethical follow-up, conducted under the supervision of a trained instructor.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Usual Care / No Structured Exercise

Intervention Type: OTHER

Participants will continue with their regular daily activities without receiving any structured exercise intervention or specific guidance related to low back pain management during the 8-week study period. They will be provided with information about the Baduanjin Exercise Program after the completion of all data collection, as part of an ethical follow-up measure.

Interventions

Baduanjin Exercise Program

A traditional Chinese qigong-based exercise program involving eight gentle movements designed to promote circulation, strengthen muscles, and improve balance. Participants will attend supervised sessions five times per week for 8 weeks, each lasting 45 minutes.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Usual Care / No Structured Exercise

Participants will continue with their regular daily activities without receiving any structured exercise intervention or specific guidance related to low back pain management during the 8-week study period. They will be provided with information about the Baduanjin Exercise Program after the completion of all data collection, as part of an ethical follow-up measure.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

-

This study specifically targets office workers diagnosed with mechanical (or non-specific) chronic low back pain, which refers to persistent low back pain without a specific identifiable pathological cause such as disc herniation, spinal stenosis, or inflammatory diseases. Mechanical low back pain is the most common form of chronic low back pain among sedentary populations, particularly office workers, and is primarily attributed to musculoskeletal imbalances, poor posture, and prolonged sitting.Participants were included in the study if they met the following criteria:

1. Age and Occupational Requirements: Office workers between the ages of 20 and 55 years with at least two years of continuous employment.

2. History of Chronic Low Back Pain: Presence of persistent or recurrent low back pain localized below the costal margin and above the inferior gluteal folds, with a duration of more than three months.

3. Pain Intensity Assessment: A pain score exceeding 40 mm on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), indicating a moderate level of pain.

4. Clinical Diagnosis Confirmation: Participants must be diagnosed with mechanical (non-specific) chronic low back pain by orthopaedic sports medicine specialists from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. All participants will be required to submit their annual full-body medical examination report provided by the university between May 30 and July 30 each year. The Principal Investigator will collect these reports in advance and arrange for orthopaedic sports medicine specialists from the affiliated hospital to conduct an on-site screening at Xi'an Jiaotong University City College. During this process, specialists will review participants' medical history, evaluate physical symptoms, and consider available imaging reports (e.g., X-rays or MRI scans if previously conducted) to confirm the absence of specific spinal pathologies such as disc herniation or spinal stenosis. These specialists are experts in diagnosing and managing musculoskeletal conditions related to physical activity and sports, ensuring accurate assessment and classification of participants' chronic low back pain. Their involvement guarantees both clinical validity and safety in participant selection.

5. Cognitive and Physical Function: Normal cognitive function, adequate communication and interaction skills, and the physical ability to perform the basic movements of Baduanjin exercise. Participants must also have voluntarily provided written informed consent and agreed to comply with all study procedures throughout the research period.

6. Employment Status: Staff members currently employed at Xi'an Jiaotong University City College. This criterion ensures that the study population consists exclusively of sedentary office workers within the university setting, enhancing homogeneity and relevance to the target demographic.

Exclusion Criteria

-

Subjects are excluded from this study if they:

1. Those with other spinal pathologies such as lumbar fractures, lumbar disc herniation, spondylolisthesis, intravertebral occupancy, lumbar spinal stenosis, and severe osteoporosis. These conditions may interfere with the interpretation of outcomes related to chronic low back pain of non-specific origin, and could also affect the safety or effectiveness of the Baduanjin exercise intervention.

2. Persons with contraindications such as leukaemia, thrombocytopenia and other diseases with bleeding tendency, acute infectious diseases and oncological diseases. These systemic illnesses may affect participant safety or confound the results, and are therefore not included in the target population of office workers with chronic low back pain.

3. Suffering from diseases of liver and kidney function, serious cardiac disorders, and other diseases affecting the study. The presence of these comorbidities could influence the ability of participants to safely complete the Baduanjin exercise program, and thus they are excluded to ensure homogeneity among the target group of individuals with chronic low back pain.

4. Women who are pregnant. Pregnancy-related changes in posture and musculoskeletal loading can affect low back pain symptoms and response to exercise, which may confound the study findings.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 20 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 55 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Universiti Sains Malaysia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Shazlin Shaharudin

Professor, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Xi'an Jiaotong University City College

Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Countries

China

Central Contacts

YANAN QI, MSc （Master of Science）

Role: CONTACT

QIYANAN@student.usm.my

+86 18612567294

Facility Contacts

MEIFANG WANG, MSc

Role: primary

quanqyn@163.com

+86 177-9563-1223

References

Qi Y, Zhuang M, Liang R, Shaharudin S. The effect of traditional Chinese exercises on low Back pain and disability in middle-aged and older adults: A systematic review. Prev Med Rep. 2025 Apr 14;54:103072. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2025.103072. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 40290641 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

USM/JEPeM/KK/25030299

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id