The effect of exercise on percentile rank aerobic capacity, pain, and self-rated disability in patients with chronic low-back pain: A retrospective chart review

Objective: To determine the effect of 6 weeks of exercise on aerobic capacity and on measures of pain and disability in patients with chronic low-back pain (LBP). Design: Retrospective chart survey. Setting: A fitness facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Patients: Patients with chronic LBP with an average duration of pain of 10 months. Interventions: Six-week exercise program to improve aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, and flexibility. Main Outcome Measures: Data were collected from 258 charts of patients with chronic LBP treated from 1991 to 1994, including age, sex, and aerobic capacity. Patients completed the numeric ratings scale-101 (pain scale) and Oswestry LBP disability questionnaire. Pre- and postexercise data were compared for patients with LBP who completed the exercise prescription. Comparative data from the same time period were also collected from the records of individuals not treated for chronic pain (controls) and who had volunteered for a test of general fitness at the same facility. Results: Both the control groups and the patients with LBP groups had statistically significant lower levels of aerobic capacity than a large group of Canadians tested in the early 1980s, the benchmark on which the age- and sex-matched standardized scores are based. The percentile rank of aerobic capacity for the patients with LBP was statistically significant and lower than those measures for the controls. Patients with LBP who completed the exercise therapy showed statistically significant improvement in percentile rank aerobic capacity, as well as statistically significant decreases in pain and disability scores. Aerobic capacity improved to a level above the norm. Conclusions: This study supports the hypothesis that exercise may be helpful in the management of chronic LBP.