Does an Aerobic Exercise Improve Outcomes in Older Sedentary Nonspecific Low Back Pain Subjects? A Randomized Controlled Study

Purpose: To demonstrate that a tailored, supervised aerobic exercise after a general back-school rehabilitation program will improve outcomes for older patients with low back pain more than the general back-school program alone.Method: Twenty-two older patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain were recruited for this study, and they were randomly assigned to a control or an interventional group. Both groups received a standard back-school program, while subjects in the intervention group received an additional 15 minutes of the aerobic training program. The numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and the Roland-Morris Questionnaire (RMQ) were used to assess pain intensity and disability before and after the 5-week treatment in both the participants' groups.Results: Reduction percentage was found significantly increased in the interventional group when compared with the control group for both the NPRS and the RMQ index (P < .05).Conclusion: An adapted aerobic exercise, together with a standard back-school program, was effective in reducing pain symptoms and disability in low back pain subjects rather than the back-school program alone. This should be used as an advice to practitioners while managing low back pain.