The Effectiveness of Aerobic Exercise Program for Improving Functional Performance and Quality of Life in Chronic Low Back Pain

Abstract

Background: The presence of persistent low back pain causes patients to avoid daily activities, which may lead to physical deconditioning, both generally and specifically. Such signs of physical deconditioning may result in even more pain and disability and so contribute to the chronicity.. From the patient’s perspective, chronic LBP has a daily impact on functional ability and quality of life(QoL). Endurance exercise reverses the cycle of deconditioning, weakness, and functional loss associated with many chronic disorders. Purpose: The purpose of this randomised controlled trial was to investigate the effectiveness of aerobic exercise program for improving functional performance and quality of life in chronic low back pain. Method: 30 patients of chronic low back pain with mean age (48.6 ± 5.32)having chronic low back pain greater than 3 months completed the trial. Subjects were randomly placed into two groups receiving the Aerobic exercises and conventional treatment (n = 15) or the conventional treatment alone ( n = 15). Conventional treatment consist of mobilization, stretching and exercises for low back patients. Each group receives their respective therapy 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Oswestry disability index, heart rate and RAND -36 were the outcome measures assessed at baseline and again after the 8 week intervention. Results: The aerobic exercises group shows significant improvement in Oswestry disability index (5.73 ± 2.64, p= 0.001) the RAND -36 Physical functioning ( Z score = -4.706, p= 0.00) and Energy and fatigue scores ( Z score = -4.715, p= 0.00) than controls. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that conventional low back pain treatment combined with aerobic exercise program is superior to conventional low back pain treatment alone in improving functional performance and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain.