Physical therapy and changes in disability for patients with low back pain

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the changes in disability for patients being treated for low back pain (LBP) at a military physical therapy clinic from the time of initial evaluation to discharge from physical therapy and to compare those changes across categories of symptom duration and location. METHODS: Three hundred four consecutive patients who completed a course of physical therapy for LBP were evaluated with the Oswestry LBP Disability questionnaire at the time of initial evaluation and discharge from physical therapy. RESULTS: In all of the patient groups, mean Oswestry scores had decreased significantly from the time of initial evaluation to discharge from physical therapy, indicating that patients experienced significantly decreased levels of disability at the time of discharge from physical therapy. However, patients with LBP without lower extremity symptoms generally had greater decreases in disability than patients with LBP with lower extremity symptoms. Furthermore, whereas patients in the acute groups had the greatest decrease in disability, patients in the chronic groups had the smallest decrease in disability. CONCLUSION: Clinicians should use LBP symptom duration, as well as the presence or absence of lower extremity symptoms, to assist in developing treatment prognoses for patients with LBP.