Can physical therapy effectively manage low back pain? 5 things to know

A new study published in Spine examines the effectiveness of physical therapy for common low back pain diagnoses.

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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.”

 

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