Effects of Resistance Training on Pain, Function and Work Ability in Patients With Moderate to Severe Low Back Pain

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Status: Completed

Conditions: Low Back Pain

Treatments: Behavioral: High-intensity resistance training; Behavioral: General physical activity; Behavioral: Multidisciplinary rehabilitation program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02420236

2014/1157-B

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to investigate if high-intensity resistance training can induce additional beneficial effects, for patients with moderate to severe long term pain in the low back, when added to a multidisciplinary treatment program.

Enrollment: 99 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 16 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Referred to the multidisciplinary clinic for treatment of pain in low back
• Long term (≥ 3months) or recurrent (≥ 2 periods of ≥ 4 weeks the past year) non-specific low back pain
• Pain intensity ≥ 4 on numerical rating scale (0-10)

Exclusion criteria

• Severe somatic condition (unstable injury, malignity, infectious disease, active rheumatic disease, severe osteoporosis)
• Psychiatric condition/disease that severely impairs group functioning
• Insufficient comprehension of Norwegian language to participate in group sessions and fill out questionnaires
• Awaiting surgery of back
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Ongoing compensation case or applying for disability benefits due to pain in the back
• Engaged in high-intensity resistance training on a regular basis the last 6 months

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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99 participants in 2 patient groups

High-intensity resistance training

Experimental group

Description:

Full body, progressive strength training with Theraband® Elastic bands. Three times per week for 12 weeks - 3 weeks with supervised sessions at the clinic, and 9 weeks of home training. Three guided sessions will be offered during the home training period.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Multidisciplinary rehabilitation program

Behavioral: High-intensity resistance training

General physical activity

Active Comparator group

Description:

12 weeks of general physical activity - 3 weeks with supervised sessions at the clinic, and 9 weeks of individually adjusted home training. This include circle-training, low-intensity resistance exercises, endurance exercises, ball playing, body awareness, stretching, and relaxation techniques, and similar activities. Neither moderate nor high-intensity resistance exercise is included for participants in this group.Three guided sessions will be offered during the home training period.

Treatment:

Behavioral: General physical activity

Behavioral: Multidisciplinary rehabilitation program