Evaluating Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain

August 17, 2006 updated by: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
This study will compare the effectiveness of yoga classes, exercise classes, and a self-care book in the management of pain and function for people with low back pain.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Back problems are among the most prevalent conditions affecting adults and are a leading reason for using complementary or alternative medical (CAM) therapies. Despite the common use of CAM therapies for back pain, little is known about how they compare with conventional treatments. This study will lay the groundwork for a full-scale trial that compares yoga with conventional exercise and usual care for chronic low back pain.

This study will randomize 30 people with chronic low back pain to each of the following groups: yoga, a conventional therapeutic exercise program, and usual care. There will be 12 weeks of weekly treatment and follow-up assessments via phone at 6, 12, and 26 weeks to measure each treatment's impact on symptoms, function, quality of life, and utilization and costs of back pain related care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States
        • Group Health Cooperative

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

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion criteria:

  • Group Health Cooperative enrollee
  • Uncomplicated low back pain
  • At least moderate pain levels

Exclusion criteria:

  • Sciatica persisting 3 or more months after physician visit
  • History of cancer (other than nonmelanoma skin cancer)
  • Severe disk problems
  • Unstable medical conditions
  • Back surgery within past 3 years
  • Physically unable to do the yoga or exercise classes and homework
  • Unable to attend classes
  • Currently doing yoga
  • Taken exercise class for back pain within past year
  • Currently in litigation for back pain
  • Seeking other treatment for back pain

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Karen J. Sherman, Ph.D., Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative

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

July 1, 2002

Study Completion

October 1, 2004

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 7, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 8, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

March 10, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 18, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 17, 2006

Last Verified

July 1, 2006

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R21AT001215-01 (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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