Background/Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of a functional exercise program for pain, functional capacity, general health, kinesiophobia, medication consumption and patient satisfaction in adults with chronic nonspecific low back pain.

Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial with intention-to-treat analysis and 24-week follow-up was performed. Eighty-four patients were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EG) or control group (CG). The EG participated in the functional exercise program performed twice a week for twelve weeks. The functional exercise program was composed of global exercises that worked the group of muscles in the trunk and lower and upper limbs with progression every 4 weeks. The two groups received an informative class on the disease and were advised to use analgesics if necessary. Evaluations were performed at baseline, after 6, 12 and 24 weeks by a blinded evaluator. The primary outcome was low back pain measured by the numeric rating scale (NRS). Secondary outcomes included functional capacity by the Oswestry and Roland-Morris questionnaires, 6-minute walk and TUG tests, kinesiophobia (FABQ), general health (SF-36), medication consumption and satisfaction with treatment (Likert scale). Sample size was calculated. The tests were used: Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Chi-square, Student’s-T and Mann-Whitney. We used the Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with Bonferroni adjustments and the intention-to-treat analysis were performed.

Results: The groups were homogeneous for all parameters at baseline. Compared with the CG, the EG significantly improved pain (p< 0.001), functional capacity (Oswestry, Roland Morris (p< 0.001) and TUG (p=0.005), FABQ (p< 0.001) and most of the SF-36 parameters.

Conclusion: The functional exercise program was effective in improving pain, functional capacity, kinesiophobia and general health in adults with chronic nonspecific low back pain.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/functional-exercise-for-adults-with-chronic-nonspecific-low-back-pain/