Articles: low-back-pain.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Material handling performance of patients with chronic low back pain during functional capacity evaluation: a comparison between three countries.
Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs) are batteries of tests designed to measure patients' ability to perform work-related activities. Although FCEs are used worldwide, it is unknown how patients' performances compare between countries or settings. This study was performed to explore similarities and differences in FCE performance of patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) between three international settings that utilize the same FCE protocol. ⋯ Considerable differences were observed between settings in maximum weight handled on the various FCE items. Future FCE research should examine the effects of a number of potentially influential factors, including variability in evaluator judgements across settings, the evaluator-patient interaction and patients' expectations of the influence of FCE results on disability compensation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Randomised controlled trial of a short course of traditional acupuncture compared with usual care for persistent non-specific low back pain.
To determine whether a short course of traditional acupuncture improves longer term outcomes for patients with persistent non-specific low back pain in primary care. ⋯ Weak evidence was found of an effect of acupuncture on persistent non-specific low back pain at 12 months, but stronger evidence of a small benefit at 24 months. Referral to a qualified traditional acupuncturist for a short course of treatment seems safe and acceptable to patients with low back pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A randomised controlled trial of acupuncture care for persistent low back pain: cost effectiveness analysis.
To evaluate the cost effectiveness of acupuncture in the management of persistent non-specific low back pain. ⋯ A short course of traditional acupuncture for persistent non-specific low back pain in primary care confers a modest health benefit for minor extra cost to the NHS compared with usual care. Acupuncture care for low back pain seems to be cost effective in the longer term.
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J Altern Complement Med · Sep 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Controlled Clinical TrialInterventions and physician characteristics in a randomized multicenter trial of acupuncture in patients with low-back pain.
Descriptions of the interventions used in acupuncture studies are often incomplete. The aim of this paper is to describe participating trial physicians and interventions in a randomised trial of acupuncture for low back pain. ⋯ For most trial physicians, the semistandardized acupuncture strategy used in this trial was an acceptable compromise for an efficacy study. However, a relevant minority of participating trial physicians stated that they would have treated patients differently outside of the trial.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Randomized controlled trial of specific spinal stabilization exercises and conventional physiotherapy for recurrent low back pain.
Pragmatic, multicentered randomized controlled trial, with 12-month follow-up. ⋯ Patients with LBP had improvement with both treatment packages to a similar degree. There was no additional benefit of adding specific spinal stabilization exercises to a conventional physiotherapy package for patients with recurrent LBP.