A groundbreaking study has found that adults with a history of low back pain experienced nearly twice the duration without a recurrence when they walked regularly. Low back pain affects approximately 800 million people globally and is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life.

Walking as a Cost-Effective Intervention for Low Back Pain Prevention

Recurrent episodes of low back pain are common, with 70% of individuals experiencing a recurrence within a year of recovery. The current best practices for managing and preventing back pain include a combination of exercise and education. However, many forms of exercise can be costly, complex, and require supervision, making them inaccessible for many people.

Macquarie University’s Spinal Pain Research Group conducted a clinical trial to determine if walking could serve as an effective, cost-efficient, and accessible intervention for low back pain management and prevention.

The trial followed 701 adults who had recently recovered from an episode of low back pain, randomly allocating participants to either an individualised walking program and six physiotherapist-guided education sessions over six months, or to a control group.

Researchers followed the participants for between one and three years, depending on when they joined, and the results have now been published in the latest edition of The Lancet.

Implications for Low Back Pain Management

The paper’s senior author, Macquarie University Professor of Physiotherapy, Mark Hancock, says the findings could have a profound impact on how low back pain is managed.

“The intervention group had fewer occurrences of activity limiting pain compared to the control group, and a longer average period before they had a recurrence, with a median of 208 days compared to 112 days,” Professor Hancock says.

“Walking is a low-cost, widely accessible and simple exercise that almost anyone can engage in, regardless of geographic location, age or socio-economic status.

“We don’t know exactly why walking is so good for preventing back pain, but it is likely to include the combination of the gentle oscillatory movements, loading and strengthening the spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of ‘feel-good’ endorphins.

“And of course, we also know that walking comes with many other health benefits, including cardiovascular health, bone density, healthy weight, and improved mental health.”

Lead author Dr Natasha Pocovi says in addition to providing participants with longer pain-free periods, the program was very cost-effective.

“It not only improved people’s quality of life, but it reduced their need both to seek healthcare support and the amount of time taken off work by approximately half,” she says.

“The exercise-based interventions to prevent back pain that have been explored previously are typically group-based and need close clinical supervision and expensive equipment, so they are much less accessible to the majority of patients.

“Our study has shown that this effective and accessible means of exercise has the potential to be successfully implemented at a much larger scale than other forms of exercise.”

To build on these findings, the team now hopes to explore how they can integrate the preventive approach into the routine care of patients who experience recurrent low back pain.

Reference:

1. What should I know about back pain? – (https://versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/back-pain/)

Source-Eurekalert