Recurrent Low Back Pain:Linking Mechanisms to Outcomes

July 31, 2018 updated by: Sheri Silfies, Drexel University

The purpose of this study is to determine if trunk neuromuscular control strategies are changed by therapeutic exercises emphasizing core stabilization.

Hypothesis: subjects with low back pain who demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements in function and pain will have significantly improved trunk motor control strategies.

Hypothesis: measures of trunk control will demonstrate 'construct-validity'. This will be tested using a known group method demonstrating:

  • no significant change in motor control measures within the untreated, healthy control group.
  • significant changes within the low back subjects who demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

A growing body of evidence suggests that poor neuromuscular control of the lumbopelvic region is an important finding in a large number of patients with recurrent and chronic low back pain and may play a role in recurrence of symptoms. Despite findings of altered trunk motor control in individuals with low back pain, the neuromuscular strategies underlying these alterations have not been satisfactorily characterized. The aims of this study are to(1) identify which neural control strategies are altered following a rehabilitation program that emphasizes trunk control and stability using a motor learning approach and (2) provide preliminary evidence of a link between hypothesized mechanism and effectiveness for programs designed to improve trunk control.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
69

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19102
        • Drexel University
      • West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, 19380
        • Optimum Physical Therapy Associates

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

primary care clinic physical therapy clinic community

Description

Inclusion criteria for healthy controls:

No history of low back is defined as:

  1. no pain limiting performance of daily activities for greater than 3 days,
  2. no pain for which they sought medical or allied health intervention.

Inclusion Criteria for individuals with a history of low back pain:

  1. duration of the current episode of low back pain less than 3 months,
  2. average pain intensity over past 2 weeks at least 3 on an 11 point (0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain ever) numeric pain rating scale,
  3. no medical intervention for low back pain in last 6 months,
  4. Oswestry disability score greater than 20%
  5. a physical therapy diagnosis of clinical lumbar instability based upon specific examination findings.

Exclusion Criteria for both groups:

  1. permanent structural spinal deformity (e.g., scoliosis)
  2. history of spinal fracture or diagnosis of osteoporosis
  3. diagnosis of inflammatory joint disease
  4. signs of systemic illness or suspected non-mechanical LBP (i.e. spinal tumor or infection)
  5. previous spinal surgery
  6. frank neurological loss, i.e., weakness and sensory loss
  7. history of neurologic disease that required hospitalization,
  8. active treatment of another medical illness that would preclude participation in any aspect of the study or any lower extremity injury that would potentially alter trunk movement in standing
  9. leg length discrepancy of greater than 2.5 cm.
  10. pregnancy
  11. vestibular dysfunction

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Low back pain
Individuals with current low back pain attributed to poor trunk neuromuscular control (clinical instability).
Other: Core Stabilization

The 8-week core stabilization program emphasizes use of specific local stabilizing muscles (transverse abdominis[TrA], lumbar multifidus[LM]) to restore active control and stability to the trunk. This program emphasizes training using isometric co-contractions and a progression (3 stages) based upon a motor learning paradigm.

Stage 1: emphasizes neutral position of the spine and activation of the TrA and LM. Performance feedback is emphasized and monitored through observation and palpation.

Stage 2: promotes maintenance the co-contraction while performing movements of the trunk and superimposing movements of the upper and lower extremities. Trunk conditioning is also emphasized (i.e., curl ups, quadruped leg/arm lifts and side support). Feedback is gradually reduced.

Stage 3: emphasis on maintenance of the co-contraction while performing exercises on an unstable surface or during perturbation of the activity. Random practice patterns are used to enhance motor learning.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Trunk Neuromuscular Control
Time Frame: Baseline, 8 weeks
Using surface EMG, trunk kinematics and force plate parameters. Trunk motor control is characterized and compared between groups and pre/post intervention in the low back pain group.
Baseline, 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Oswestry Disability Index
Time Frame: Baseline, 8 weeks
measure of functional limitations
Baseline, 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Drexel University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Sheri P. Silfies, PT, PhD, Drexel University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 10, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 10, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 12, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 2, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 31, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • K01HD053632T
  • K01HD053632 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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