Adults with a history of low back pain went nearly twice as long without a recurrence of their back pain if they walked regularly, a world-first study has found. About 800 million people worldwide have low back pain, and it is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life. Repeated episodes of low back pain are also very common, with seven in 10 people who recover from an episode going on to have a recurrence within a year.
Current best practice for back pain management and prevention suggests the combination of exercise and education. However, some forms of exercise are not accessible or affordable to many people due to their high cost, complexity, and need for supervision. A clinical trial by Macquarie University's Spinal Pain Research Group has looked at whether walking could be an effective, cost-effective and accessible intervention.
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 . 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 fe.
