A new study published in Spine examines the effectiveness of physical therapy for common low back pain diagnoses.
The researchers examined 4,597 patients who underwent physical therapy for nonoperative treatment of low back pain. The researchers found:
1. Around 28.5 percent of the patients met minimal clinically important difference for improvement in the Oswestry Disability Index scores.
2. The predictors of failure for the ODI scores were:
• Night symptoms
• Obesity
• Smoking
3. There were 59 percent of patients who met the MCID for the numeric pain rating sale during activity. Failure of treatment predictors were:
• Thromboembolism
• Night symptoms
• Psychiatric disease
• Workers' compensation status
• Smoking
• Obesity
4. Sixty percent of patients reported improvement for activity NPRS. Failure predictors were night symptoms, workers compensation and smoking.
5. The article authors concluded, "We observed that a substantial percentage of the population did not meet the MCID for pain and functioning following treatment of low back pain with physical therapy."