Massage, Meditation, and Tai Chi for Chronic Lower Back Pain

October 11, 2017 updated by: Kaiser Permanente

Relaxation-Related CAM Therapies for Chronic Back Pain

This clinical trial is a preliminary study designed to prepare for a full-scale, randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of tai chi, mediation, and therapeutic massage for chronic lower back pain in adults.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Despite the common use of complementary and alternative therapies for back pain, little is known about how such therapies compare with each other or with conventional medical therapies in terms of effectiveness and cost. This study will lay the groundwork for a full-scale trial that will evaluate the relative effectiveness and costs of three promising relaxation-related techniques (massage, tai chi, and meditation) that are appropriate for both younger and older adults with chronic lower back pain. The pilot study will identify and resolve unanticipated problems and estimate the sample sizes required for an adequately-powered, full-scale trial.

Participants with chronic lower back pain will be randomly assigned to one of the following groups: tai chi, massage, meditation, or continued usual care (control group). The participants assigned to each intervention will be divided equally between persons under and over age 65.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

120

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

20 years to 64 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  • Chronic lower 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: FACTORIAL
  • Masking: SINGLE

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Kaiser Permanente

Collaborators

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Daniel C. Cherkin, Center for Health Studies

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

September 1, 2000

Study Completion

June 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 9, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 10, 2003

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 13, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

October 13, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2017

Last Verified

October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01AT000606-01 (NIH)

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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