Please select the arm or intervention descriptions that belong to the clinical trial below.
Title: Effect of Thermal Therapy in Combination With Exercises to Relieve Acute Low Back Pain
Brief Summary: Low back pain (LBP) ranks among the first diseases in term of years lived with disability. The latest Clinical Guideline from the American College of Physicians for acute LBP recommends to select "nonpharmacologic treatment with superficial heat, massage, acupuncture or spinal manipulation". The application of superficial heat ("thermal therapy") may provide enough pain relief in the acute phase to remain active, which is recommended to prevent the development of chronicity. However, no studies have tested if the combination of heat and exercises provide additional benefit on short, middle and long-term follow-up in people with acute LBP.

Hence, the main objective of this study is to determine the immediate, short-, middle- and long-term effect of continuous low-level thermal therapy in combination or not with exercises on pain, disability, and physical activity level in people with acute LBP.

Project hypothesis : The Thermal care + Exercises group will show greater improvement in pain, disability and physical activity level than both Thermal care and Control groups for immediate, short-, middle- and long-term follow-ups.

Sixty individuals with acute LBP will be recruited. This study will include six assessments over 6 months. At the baseline evaluation, participants will complete questionnaires on symptoms, disability, pain-related fear and self-efficacy. Afterwards, participants will be randomly assigned to one of three intervention programs: 1) Thermal care group, 2) Exercises + Thermal care group, and 3) Control group. They will immediately meet a physical therapist to review and perform their assigned program.

Participants will then take part in their assigned 7-day intervention program, during which they will wear a fitness wristband to track physical activity level. Finally, the same outcomes will be reassessed to determine the effect of intervention at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.


Options:
A: Arm Label: Low Back Only; Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR; Interventions: Procedure: Low Back Only | Arm Label: Low Back+Hip; Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR; Interventions: Procedure: Low Back+Hip | Intervention Type: PROCEDURE; Name: Low Back Only; Assigned to Arm(s): Low Back Only | Intervention Type: PROCEDURE; Name: Low Back+Hip; Assigned to Arm(s): Low Back+Hip
B: Arm Label: Specific resistance training; Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR; Interventions: Other: Work Place Adjusted Intelligent Physical Exercise Reducing Musculoskeletal Pain in Shoulder and Neck | Arm Label: Control; Type: NO_INTERVENTION; Interventions: N/A | Intervention Type: OTHER; Name: Work Place Adjusted Intelligent Physical Exercise Reducing Musculoskeletal Pain in Shoulder and Neck; Assigned to Arm(s): Specific resistance training
C: Arm Label: S-A; Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR; Interventions: Procedure: Stay-active care | Arm Label: S-A+stretch; Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR; Interventions: Procedure: Stay-active care+stretching | Arm Label: S-A+stretch+manther; Type: EXPERIMENTAL; Interventions: Procedure: Stay-active+stretching+manual therapy | Arm Label: S-A+stretch+manther+sterinject; Type: EXPERIMENTAL; Interventions: Procedure: Stay-active+stretching+manual therapy+steroid injections | Intervention Type: PROCEDURE; Name: Stay-active care; Assigned to Arm(s): S-A | Intervention Type: PROCEDURE; Name: Stay-active care+stretching; Assigned to Arm(s): S-A+stretch | Intervention Type: PROCEDURE; Name: Stay-active+stretching+manual therapy; Assigned to Arm(s): S-A+stretch+manther | Intervention Type: PROCEDURE; Name: Stay-active+stretching+manual therapy+steroid injections; Assigned to Arm(s): S-A+stretch+manther+sterinject
D: Arm Label: Thermal care; Type: EXPERIMENTAL; Interventions: Device: Thermal care, Behavioral: Education for the management of acute low back pain | Arm Label: Thermal care + exercises; Type: EXPERIMENTAL; Interventions: Device: Thermal care, Other: Exercises, Behavioral: Education for the management of acute low back pain | Arm Label: Control; Type: SHAM_COMPARATOR; Interventions: Device: Sham, Behavioral: Education for the management of acute low back pain | Intervention Type: DEVICE; Name: Thermal care; Assigned to Arm(s): Thermal care, Thermal care + exercises | Intervention Type: OTHER; Name: Exercises; Assigned to Arm(s): Thermal care + exercises | Intervention Type: DEVICE; Name: Sham; Assigned to Arm(s): Control | Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL; Name: Education for the management of acute low back pain; Assigned to Arm(s): Control, Thermal care, Thermal care + exercises

Answer: D