Abstract
Background & Objectives: Chronic nonspecific back pain (CNSLBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases, and that pain, psychosocial, cognitive, and emotional aspects can affect it and cause vulnerability and impairment in a person's ability to manage pain. Moderate-effect size medical evidence suggests that exercise can be an effective treatment for patients with chronic low back pain compared with groups receiving no treatment, or a placebo for pain. Psychosocial factors, especially fear-avoidance beliefs, self-efficacy, and fear of movement, are associated with disability due to CNSLBP. Also, according to the studies, many factors, such as disability and psychological factors, are effective in the occurrence or treatment of CNSLBP. In the past few decades, numerous studies have highlighted the significant role of psychological and social factors in the development of CNSLBP. Pain self-efficacy, which refers to the assurance of engaging in certain desired behaviors, has been proposed as one of the most important psychological constructs for modeling individual adaptation to chronic pain. This research aims to compare Pilates exercises and postural restoration exercises on pain, disability, and psychological characteristics in people with CNSLBP.
Methods: The current study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design. The subjects were 99 men and women suffering from CNSLBP who were randomly assigned into 2 experimental groups and 1 control group (33 people in each group) using available sampling. The subjects were selected through a purposeful and accessible call based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. The inclusion criteria for the subjects were as follows: the presence of low back pain for at least 12 weeks, 3 days a week; achieving a score of more than 4 on the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire for referral to a physician; having a pain intensity equal to or greater than 4 on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS); positive Oberˈs test on one side, indicating anterior and external rotation of the innominate bone disorder on the same side and limited internal rotation of the shoulder on the opposite side; and pain between the last rib and the gluteal folds. The exclusion criteria for the subjects were as follows: dissatisfaction with participating in the study, failure to regularly participate in exercise sessions, and increased pain. All subjects completed the consent form for participation in the study, and it was explained to the subjects that they could withdraw from the study at any time if they did not wish to continue their cooperation. In this study, pain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (Hayes & Patterson, 1921), disability using the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (Roland & Morris, 1983), fear-avoidance beliefs related to work and physical activity using the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (Waddell et al., 1993), self-efficacy using the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (Nicholas et al., 1992), and fear of movement using the Tampa Scale (Miller et al., 1991). The group of Pilates exercises and postural restoration exercises performed their routine for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week. The control group did not receive any intervention and only participated in the pretest and posttest. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the mean and standard deviation, and to examine the effect of the exercise protocols in the two experimental groups and compare them with each other and the control group, the combined analysis of covariance (2*2) and the Bonferroni post hoc test at a significance level of 0.05 and SPSS software version 26 were used.
Results: Results showed that exercises in both the experimental groups of Pilates and postural restoration had a significant effect on improving pain, disability, fear-avoidance beliefs related to work and physical activity, self-efficacy, and fear of movement compared to the control group (p<0.001). Also, postural retraining exercises had a greater effect on improving fear-avoidance beliefs related to work and physical activity, and fear of movement compared to Pilates exercises (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of postural restoration exercises, it is recommended that therapists pay attention to these exercises in compiling training programs.
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