ClinicalTrials.Veeva

Menu

Massage, Meditation, and Tai Chi for Chronic Lower Back Pain

Kaiser Permanente logo

Kaiser Permanente

Status

Completed

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Treatments

Behavioral: Tai chi
Behavioral: Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program
Procedure: Therapeutic massage

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other
NIH

Identifiers

NCT00070915
R01AT000606-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This clinical trial is a preliminary study designed to prepare for a full-scale, randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of tai chi, mediation, and therapeutic massage for chronic lower back pain in adults.

Full description

Despite the common use of complementary and alternative therapies for back pain, little is known about how such therapies compare with each other or with conventional medical therapies in terms of effectiveness and cost. This study will lay the groundwork for a full-scale trial that will evaluate the relative effectiveness and costs of three promising relaxation-related techniques (massage, tai chi, and meditation) that are appropriate for both younger and older adults with chronic lower back pain. The pilot study will identify and resolve unanticipated problems and estimate the sample sizes required for an adequately-powered, full-scale trial.

Participants with chronic lower back pain will be randomly assigned to one of the following groups: tai chi, massage, meditation, or continued usual care (control group). The participants assigned to each intervention will be divided equally between persons under and over age 65.

Sex

All

Ages

20 to 64 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Chronic lower back pain

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Factorial Assignment

Masking

Single Blind

Trial contacts and locations

0

Loading...

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

Clinical trials

Find clinical trialsTrials by location
© Copyright 2026 Veeva Systems