Long-term effects of an outpatient rehabilitation program in patients with chronic recurrent low back pain
Karin Pieber1, Malvina Herceg, Michael Quittan
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, karin.pieber@meduniwien.ac.at.
Purpose:
This longitudinal study investigated long-term effects of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program consisting of resistance and sensorimotor training, patient education, and stress management over 6 months in patients with chronic low back pain.
Methods:
Ninety-six patients with chronic recurrent low back pain performed a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. We assessed pain-free lumbar spine range of motion (ROM), strength of the lumbar extensor muscles, and pain by visual analog scale (VAS). Furthermore, the Roland-Morris (RM) questionnaire and SF-36 were used. The examinations were performed before and after rehabilitation, and a long-term follow-up was performed after 18 months.
Results:
All outcome measurements (ROM, VAS, RM, muscle strength, and SF-36 scores) improved significantly from baseline to the post-rehabilitation evaluation. These improvements were found to persist until a follow-up evaluation 18 months after cessation of the intervention.
Conclusions:
Our findings confirm the results of former studies evaluating the short-term effects of multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs. In addition, our data demonstrate that well-balanced outpatient rehabilitation programs may induce persistent improvements in muscle strength, pain, function and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain.
