Investigating walking for low back pain
The WalkBack trial is an individualised and progressive walking and education program to prevent low back pain recurrence.
Seven in 10 people who recover from an episode of low back pain will experience a recurrence within the following year. Although the health benefits of walking have been widely explored, no trial has examined whether walking was effective in preventing recurrences of low back pain – until the WalkBack trial.
About the trial
The NHMRC-funded study investigates the effectiveness of an individualised walking and education program to prevent low back pain. The trial is a collaboration between:
- Macquarie University
- Sydney University
- Western Sydney University
- Vrije University Amsterdam.
We recruited 20 physiotherapists and 701 participants across Australia who had experienced an episode of low back pain in the last six months but had recovered by the time they enrolled in the trial. Participants willing to partake in the trial were randomly allocated to one of two groups:
- one group received a progressive and individualised walking and education program delivered by a physiotherapist across six sessions
- one group group received no treatment (ie a control group).
Both groups were followed for a minimum of one year and up to a maximum of three years to track any new recurrences of low back pain.
Results
The walking and education program (intervention) was found to reduce the recurrence of low back pain – which limits everyday activities – by 28 per cent compared to the control group.
Impressively, this simple walking and education program also reduced care-seeking episodes of low back pain by 43 per cent.
The walking and education program also reduced the time taken off work due to low back pain (ie absenteeism) and was cost-effective compared to the control group.