Synergistic effect of a rehabilitation program and treadmill exercise on pain and dysfunction in patients with chronic low back pain

[Purpose] The present study examined the influence of treadmill exercise added to a lowback pain rehabilitation program on low back extensor strength, pain, and dysfunction inchronic low back pain patients. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty men aged 22–36 years withchronic low back pain were randomly divided into experimental and control groups of 10patients each. Both groups underwent a low back pain rehabilitation program lasting 30 mineach, thrice/week for 8 weeks. The experimental group was prescribed an additional 30 minof treadmill exercise without a slope at a speed of 3.0–3.5 km/h, at which patients couldwalk comfortably. Low back extensor strength was tested using the Medx lumbar extensionmachine, pain level was tested, using the visual analog scale, and dysfunction was tested,using the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. [Results] Changes in low backextensor strength by angle showed significant interaction effects between measurement timeand group at 12°, 24°, and 36°. The results of the visual analog scale and OswestryQuestionnaire showed a decreasing trend after the experiment in both groups. However,there was no interaction effect of the additional treadmill exercise in the experimentalgroup. [Conclusion] The combination of a low back pain rehabilitation program andtreadmill exercise has a synergistic effect, to some extent, on the improvement of lowback extensor strength and should be considered for treatment and rehabilitation of lowback pain patients.Key words: Low back pain, Rehabilitation, Treadmill exercise