ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
A possibility to treat chronic low back pain is joint mobilization. There is moderate literature evidence of the effects of mobilization on chronic low back pain; however, few studies have used sham mobilization as comparison group. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of back joint mobilization on the following outcomes: pain intensity and incapacity in chronic low back pain patients.
METHODS:
Participated in the study 60 individuals of both genders with the following eligibility criteria: aged between 18 and 55 years with chronic nonspecific low back pain for at least three months. Selected volunteers were randomly distributed in three groups of 20 individuals: joint mobilization group MG: 39.15±11.45 years, sham mobilization group SG: 37.10±12.57 years, and control group CG: 30.60±8.97. All groups were evaluated by the same blind investigator and have answered to the following tools pre-and immediately after the ten intervention sessions: pain numeric scale to evaluate pain intensity, Oswestry Disability Index to evaluate low back pain-related incapacity and Catastrophic Thoughts Scale to evaluate pain-related catastrophizing.
RESULTS:
There were significant pre-and post-treatment differences in pain intensity for MG (p<0.001) and SG (p<0.001). There has been significant difference in mean pain intensity value in MG as compared to CG (-2.55).
CONCLUSION:
Our results suggest sham effect related to the application of mobilization in chronic low back pain patients.
Keywords:
Clinical trial; Joint mobilization; Low back pain; Manual therapy; Pain catastrophizing
