Pain Neuroscience Education and Gradual Exposure to Exercise in Factory Workers With Chronic Low Back Pain
Condition: Low Back Pain
MeSH terms: Back Pain; Low Back Pain
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study aims to compare the effectiveness of a pain neuroscience education (PNE) based
      programe and gradual exposure to exercise versus pilates on disability levels associated with
      chronic low back pain in factory workers. There will be two arms each one receiving one type
      of intervention over 8 weeks.
    

Detailed description: 
      This will be a pilot randomized controlled and experimental study. There will be two groups,
      one group will receive an intervention strategy based in basic postural re-education
      exercises (Pilates) and self-management strategies, and the other group will perform a
      program based in pain neuroscience education and gradual exposure to exercise. Both
      interventions will be delivered in the physiotherapy office of a paper industry. Participants
      will be randomly allocated according to the work team they belong, to an intervention arm.

      The inclusion criteria to participate in the study are: to have nonspecific low back pain
      lasting longer than three months, felt in the anatomic region below the costal margin and
      above the inferior gluteal folds, without referred leg pain and not related to any specific
      pathology such as lumbar fracture, ankylosing spondylitis, cauda equina syndrome, infection
      or tumour and not receiving treatment for low back pain. Participants will be excluded if
      during the physical examination they show altered sensorial signs indicative of
      radiculopathy; red flags such as weight loss without a particular cause, cancer diagnosis or
      sustained use of corticoids; presence of any rheumatic, neurologic or cardiorespiratory
      disease that prevent the practice of physical exercise.

      Once inclusion criteria have been ascertained, participants will be assessed for
      sociodemographic and anthropometric data, pain, disability, knowledge of pain
      neurophysiology, pain catastrophizing, fear of movement, presence of a neuropathic component,
      workstation evaluation and global impression of change related to intervention.

      The intervention will last for 8 weeks, during which participants will have 1 face-to-face
      session per week with a duration of approximately 60 minutes each. One group (Pilates group)
      will receive an intervention based on Pilates' and and postural education. The other group
      will have theoretical sessions of PNE and gradual exposure to exercise (PNE plus graded
      exposure group).
    

Intervention name(s): Pain Neuroscience Education and gradual exposure; Pilates and postural education
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Education covering the pathophysiology of apin and exercises based on the gradual exposure principle; Postural education and pilates exercises
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Two arms, each receiving a different intervention.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment