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 Compared to people who didn’t exercise, those who did were 33
percent less likely to develop low back pain, the analysis of data
from 16 previously published studies found. Pairing exercise with
patient education about back pain was associated with 27 percent
lower odds of developing low back pain, the study also found.
“The study shows that exercises for strengthening and stretching the
lumbar and abdominal muscles, or a combination of strengthening and
aerobic exercises protect against low back pain,” said lead study
author Dr. Rahman Shiri of the Finnish Institute of Occupational
Health in Helsinki.
“Furthermore, exercise reduces the severity of low back pain as well
as disability due to low back pain,” Shiri said by email.
The researchers analyzed results from previous experiments that
randomly assigned people with or without back pain to start
different exercise routines. They also looked at some studies that
compared exercise alone or exercise paired with education.
Altogether, the studies in the analysis had a total of 4,310
participants. Individual studies ranged in size from 30 to 901
participants and followed people for 2 to 24 months.
Many of the trials included stretching exercises, and some looked at
strengthening, aerobic fitness, endurance, balance, coordination and
motor skills.
Four studies were conducted in Japan, three in Denmark, two in
Sweden and one each in Canada, Finland, Italy, New Zealand,
Thailand, the UK and the United States.
Five studies only included people who didn’t have back pain to see
if they developed it, while the rest included participants with and
without back pain.
Exercise alone, compared to no physical activity, was associated
with a 38 percent lower risk of disability due to low back pain, an
analysis of five studies found. Adding patient education to exercise
got similar results, one study concluded.
While exercise appeared to also lower the chances that participants
would seek medical care or go on sick leave for low back pain, the
difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due
to chance.
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One limitation of the review is that it focused on people in the
general population, so it’s possible the impact of exercise might be
different for individuals already suffering from low back pain, the
authors note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Another drawback is that the analysis didn’t explore whether one
type of exercise might be better than another for preventing low
back pain, said Steven George, a researcher at Duke University in
Durham, North Carolina, who wasn’t involved in the study.
“This study also could not separate the physical and mental benefits
of exercise,” George said by email. “My guess is that the individual
gets the benefit of both with exercise.”Any exercise people like may
help as long as they do it often enough, said Bruno Saragiotto, a
public health researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia
who wasn’t involved in the review. Ideally, people should get at
least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, he said by
email.
“Fortunately, the type of exercise seems less important,” Saragiotto
added.
Many other things people try for back pain - like braces, special
mattresses and custom footwear - haven’t been found to help like
exercise has, noted Julie Fritz, a researcher at the University of
Utah in Salt Lake City who wasn’t involved in the review.
“This current study helps to reinforce and strengthen further our
knowledge that exercise is about the only thing that consistently
results in reduced risk of developing back pain,” Fritz said by
email. “For patients who have had prior episodes of back pain,
exercise helps reduce the risk of a new episode.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2zoyw0F American Journal of Epidemiology,
online October 19, 2017.
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