The effectiveness of incidental physical activity interventions compared to other interventions in the management of people with low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Hosam Alzahrani; Martin Mackey; Emmanuel Stamatakis; Marina B Pinheiro; Manuela Wicks; Debra Shirley

doi:10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.12.008

The effectiveness of incidental physical activity interventions compared to other interventions in the management of people with low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Phys Ther Sport. 2019 Mar:36:34-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.12.008. Epub 2018 Dec 21.

Authors

Hosam Alzahrani¹, Martin Mackey², Emmanuel Stamatakis³, Marina B Pinheiro⁴, Manuela Wicks⁵, Debra Shirley⁶

Affiliations

¹ The University of Sydney, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney, Australia; Taif University, Physiotherapy Department, College of Applied Medical Science, Taif, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: halz2656@uni.sydney.edu.au.
² The University of Sydney, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: martin.mackey@sydney.edu.au.
³ The University of Sydney, Charles Perkins Centre, Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: emmanuel.stamatakis@sydney.edu.au.
⁴ The University of Sydney, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney, Australia; The University of Sydney, School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: marina.pinheiro@sydney.edu.au.
⁵ The University of Sydney, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: mwic3340@uni.sydney.edu.au.
⁶ The University of Sydney, Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: debra.shirley@sydney.edu.au.

PMID: 30620922
DOI: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2018.12.008

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of incidental (non-structured) physical activity interventions for the management of people with low back pain (LBP).

Design: Systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials.

Setting: Eligible published trials from the earliest date available to November 2017.

Participants: People with non-specific LBP aged 18 years or over.

Outcome measures: Pain, disability and physical activity-related outcomes.

Results: Three trials were included (including a total of 422 participants). The quality of trials, assessed by PEDro scale, was high (7 out of 10). For pain, the pooled results did not show any significant effects between the incidental physical activity intervention and other interventions at any time point. For disability, incidental physical activity was not statistically more effective than other interventions at short-term; however, the pooled results favoured incidental physical activity at intermediate-term (weighted mean difference (WMD) = -6.05, 95%CI: -10.39 to -1.71) and long-term (WMD = -6.40 95%CI: -11.68 to -1.12) follow-ups among participants with chronic LBP. The overall quality of evidence was rated "moderate-quality" based on the GRADE system.

Conclusions: The incidental physical activity intervention provided improvement in disability in intermediate- and long-term for people with chronic LBP, although this improvement was small and may not be clinically significant.

Keywords: Incidental physical activity; Low back pain; Meta-analysis; Systematic review.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Exercise Therapy*
Humans
Low Back Pain / rehabilitation*
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic