Low back pain (LBP) is a significant
health problem for both young and geriatric individuals.
Of particular concern is that conditions associated
with LBP, such as impaired strength and flexibility,
can have very serious consequences for an older individuals'
independence and overall health. Chiropractic and
exercise treatments aim to correct such impairments
and have demonstrated their potential in younger individuals
with LBP. However these promising treatments have yet
to be rigorously evaluated in elderly LBP sufferers.
The broad, long-term objective of this research
is to identify effective therapies for low back pain
and to discover the best methods for enhancing health
and functional capacity in patients 65 years of age
and older with low back pain of more than 6 weeks duration.
Primary Aims
- To determine the relative clinical effectiveness
of 1) chiropractic manual treatment and home exercise,
2) supervised rehabilitative exercise and
home exercise, and 3) home exercise alone in both
the short-term (after 12 weeks) and long-term (after
52 weeks), using low back pain
as the main outcome measure.
Secondary Aims
- To estimate the short- and long-term relative effectiveness
of the three interventions using:
- Patient-rated outcomes: low
back disability, general health status, patient
satisfaction, improvement ,
and medication use measured by self-report
questionnaires;
- Objective functional performance
outcomes: spinal motion, trunk endurance,
and functional ability measured by examiners
masked to treatment group assignment;
- Cost measures: direct and indirect costs
of treatment measured by questionnaires, phone
interviews, and medical records.
- To describe patients' perceptions of treatment and
the issues they consider when determining their satisfaction
with care.
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