Effects of combined hip exercise and passive stretching on muscle stiffness, pain perception and painrelated disability, and physical function in older adults with low back pain.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of combined hip exercise and passive stretching as a novel treatment method for low back pain (LBP) in older adults. Altogether, 20 Koreans with LBP aged 60-79 years (67.3 ± 5.92 years) were randomly assigned to undertake combined exercise (CE; n = 10) or lumbar stabilization exercise (LSE; n = 10). All participants performed their respective exercise program for 25-30 min with an OMNI scale of 6-8 for 8 weeks, three times a week. Body composition, muscle stiffness, pain-visual analog scale (P-VAS), Oswestry disability index, and physical function were evaluated before and after the exercise intervention. The CE group demonstrated greater improvements in lean body mass (η2 = 0.402, p = 0.003) and percent body fat (η2 = 0.222, p = 0.036) than the LSE group. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in muscle stiffness, P-VAS scores, and Oswestry disability index scores, although no significant differences were observed between the interventions. All physical function parameters demonstrated a significant improvement in both groups, and the CE group demonstrated greater improvement in the YMCA sit-and-reach (η2 = 0.338, p = 0.007) and straight leg raise tests (η2 = 0.283, p = 0.016) than the LSE group. CE is comparable to LSE as an effective and successful exercise intervention that reduces muscle stiffness and P-VAS scores. Moreover, CE is more effective than LSE in enhancing the physical function of older adults with LBP.