Workplace Based Rehabilitation for Low Back Disorders

July 9, 2023 updated by: Rush University Medical Center
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of back supports plus education upon recovery from a work-related low back disorder. The study tests the hypothesis: the use of back supports plus health education is not different from health education alone in promoting recovery from a work-related low back disorder in consideration of personal, health, and job factors. Significant improvements in physical health, neurogenic symptoms, back pain disability, and low back pain were observed over the twelve months of study follow-up. No statistically significant difference between the study groups was found with respect to these measures.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND Low back pain remains a common major source of morbidity and disability. Few studies consider the effectiveness of interventions for low back pain while simultaneously considering personal, health, and job characteristics.

METHODS This is a randomized clinical trial in which 433 active employees with low back disorders were randomly assigned to one of two study groups: 1) back support plus education on back health; or 2) education on back health only. Demographic, health, medical, and job factors were recorded. Outcomes were evaluated over a twelve month period and included self-reported measures of back pain, back pain disability level, physical health, mental health, back pain recurrence and administrative measures.

RESULTS Significant improvements in physical health, neurogenic symptoms, back pain disability, and low back pain were observed over time in both study groups. However, there was no significant difference between the study groups with respect to these outcome measures. The adjusted hazard ratio of recurrence rate was suggestive of an incremental protective effect due to back supports over education alone (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR]=0.711, 95% CI 0.50, 1.04, p=.085). There was also a marginal effect of back supports and education on decreasing low back pain over time (AHR=0.0015, p=0.091).

CONCLUSIONS Back supports may have some value in promoting recovery from low back pain, but this effect is only observed in individuals who are actively employed in jobs with medium risk of low back disorders.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

433

Phase

  • Phase 3

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

work-related low back disorder, 18-64 years of age,active hourly worker, enrollment into study within eight weeks of diagnosis, signed informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

no other concurrent work-related condition not pregnant

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: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: Single

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Low back pain
Back pain disability
Neurogenic symptoms
Physical health
Mental health
Low back pain repeated episodes
Lost work time

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Rush University Medical Center

Collaborators

The UAW-GM National Joint Committee on Health & Safety

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Denise M Oleske, PhD, Rush University Medical Center

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

January 1, 1997

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2004

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 18, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 18, 2006

First Posted (Estimated)

April 20, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 11, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2023

Last Verified

July 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 95050341
  • #97-1-AP

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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