Exercise for Back Pain Patients Under Prescribed

Physical Activity can Effectively Control Symptoms

Jan 30, 2009

Exercise can help to relieve back pain, but medical professionals are under prescribing activity for physical relief. A supervised program for patients has best results.

Exercise is a healthy habit for many reasons, including general health, weight loss, circulation, heart health and disease prevention. Exercise can also relieve symptoms of back pain, but a new study indicates that physical activity is rarely prescribed for management of pain.

According to a study published in the February, 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, exercise can improve physical function, decrease pain symptoms and minimize disability caused by chronic low back or neck pain. The benefits of exercise for pain management have been supported by numerous trials and studies.

Health guidelines suggest that individually tailored, supervised exercise programs offer the best health outcomes.

In spite of the many known benefits of exercise, a new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that exercise may be underutilized for chronic back and neck pain.

Research Study Polls Back Pain Patients

The study researchers, led by Timothy S. Carey and Janet K. Freburger of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, conducted a phone survey of almost 700 people. The individuals surveyed had a history of chronic back pain and had seen a doctor, chiropractor or physical therapist in the previous year.

Even though exercise is one of the few moderately successful therapies for back pain, fewer than 50 percent of the study subjects had been prescribed exercise.

The type of provider seen played a major role in whether participants received a prescription.

The authors note that these findings agree with previous studies that have found that "who you see is what you get."

Most of the 700 study participants had seen a physician, but only 14 percent of them had been prescribed exercise. Study authors found that women, people with a higher level of education and people who were receiving worker’s compensation were more likely to be prescribed exercise.

Women and people with a higher level of education were likely to be more actively engaged in their care. People on worker’s compensation were more likely to be prescribed exercise because they have been hurt on the job and were treated with the goal of returning to work.

People who were prescribed exercise and who saw a physical therapist were more likely to have better results. Physical therapy provides supervision over the exercise program and can offer an individualized program on stretching and strengthening exercises.

Researcher Statement

"Although exercise prescription provided by PTs appears to be the most in line with current guidelines, there is much room for improvement by all types of providers who prescribe exercise for patients with chronic back and neck pain," the authors note. They suggest that future studies should explore barriers to prescription of exercise treatments, such as practitioner knowledge, organizational aspects of the practice, and poor reimbursement for exercise instruction compared with other types of treatment.

Article: "Exercise Prescription for Chronic Back or Neck Pain: Who Prescribes It? Who Gets It? What Is Prescribed?" Janet K. Freburger, Timothy S. Carey, George M. Holmes, Andrea S. Wallace, Liana D. Castel, Jane D. Darter, Anne M. Jackman, Arthritis & Rheumatism (Arthritis Care & Research), February 2009. EurekAlert.

The copyright of the article Exercise for Back Pain Patients Under Prescribed in Physical Therapy is owned by Christine Nyholm. Permission to republish Exercise for Back Pain Patients Under Prescribed in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.