Short-term effect on pain and function of neurophysiological education and sensorimotor retraining compared to usual physiotherapy in patients with chronic or recurrent non-specific low back pain (NSLBP)

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Chronic non-specific low back pain
Musculoskeletal Diseases
Low back pain

Registration Number: ISRCTN66262199

Lead Sponsor: Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 28

Inclusion Criteria

1. Men and women 18 to 60 years of age
2. A history of low back pain (LBP) of at least three months
3. Moderate disability, i.e. five points or more on the Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)
4. Medium or high risk for poor outcome, evaluated with the Keele Start Back Tool (KSBT)
5. Ability to speak and read German
6. Having someone available for assistance to execute home training
7. Having home access to the internet
8. Participants have to consent to an expenditure of time of 30 minutes five times per week over eight weeks to execute a home program and one to two 30-minute physiotherapy sessions per week

Exclusion Criteria

1. Nerve root pain
2. Diagnosed specific spinal pathology (such as malignancy, fracture, infection or inflammatory joint or bone disease)
3. Pregnancy or less than 6 months postpartum
4. Coexisting major medical disease causing a relative or absolute contraindication to general exercise
5. Undergone spinal surgery within the preceding two years
6. Intra-articular or perineural steroid injection on the lumbar spine during the previous five months

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Mean pain intensity of LBP on average during the last 7 days measured on a numeric rating scale (NRS) from zero to ten.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
1. General disability, measured with the Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)<br>2. Patient specific disability, measured with the Patient Specific Functional Scale (PSFS)<br>3. Cognitive aspects concerning pain and function, measured with the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)<br>4. Sensory acuity of the lower back, parameterized by measuring two-point discrimination across focal point of LBP<br>5. Motor control impairment (MCI), measured with the six tests developed by Luomajoki et al.<br>6. Sick leave recording the number of days absent from work during last seven days<br>7. Mean analgesic intake during the last seven days<br>8. A benchmark of 80 percent completion is a priori set for minimum adherence to the home training protocols<br><br>All outcomes were taken at baseline and three months later.