Abstract
Background: Low back pain is among the most common and costly chronic health care conditions. Recent research has highlighted the common occurrence of non-specific low back pain in adolescents, with prevalence estimates similar to adults. While multiple clinical trials have examined the effectiveness of commonly used therapies for the management of low back pain in adults, few trials have addressed the condition in adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodology of a randomized clinical trial examining the effectiveness of exercise with and without spinal manipulative therapy for chronic or recurrent low back pain in adolescents.Methods/design: This study is a randomized controlled trial comparing twelve weeks of exercise therapy combined with spinal manipulation to exercise therapy alone. Beginning in March 2010, a total of 184 participants, ages 12 to 18, with chronic or recurrent low back pain are enrolled across two sites. The primary outcome is self-reported low back pain intensity. Other outcomes include disability, quality of life, improvement, satisfaction, activity level, low back strength, endurance, and motion. Qualitative interviews are conducted to evaluate participants' perceptions of treatment.Discussion: This is the first randomized clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of combining spinal manipulative therapy with exercise for adolescents with low back pain. The results of this study will provide important evidence on the role of these conservative treatments for the management of low back pain in adolescents.Trial registration: (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01096628).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 21 |
| Journal | Chiropractic and Manual Therapies |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 23 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The trial was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), Division of Medicine and Dentistry (DMD), grant number R18HP15124. The content and conclusions of this manuscript are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by the U.S. government, HHS, HRSA, BHPr, or the DMD. The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of our dedicated project managers Kayla Kelly and Sarah Kirkpatrick, in addition to the research clinicians and staff.
Keywords
- Adolescent
- Back pain
- Exercise
- Musculoskeletal manipulations
- Pain
- Randomized controlled trial
- Spinal manipulation