Effects of the centrifugal contraction exercise of the rectus abdominis accompanied with the isometric exercise of the transversus abdominis on pain and balance of lower back pain patients.
Jung-Ho Lee
PMID 28878472WHAT IT FOUND
The abdominal exercise showed no added difference over the bridge exercise.
Pain and balance improved in both chronic back-pain groups after six weeks, but both groups had hot packs, ultrasonic therapy, and electrical stimulation.
Key findings
01The exercise programs did not differ from each other, although both groups improved pain and balance within themselves.
02On a 0 to 10 pain scale, the experimental group moved from 5.65 to 2.34 and the control group from 5.82 to 2.91.
03Balance scores moved from 3.55 to 1.28 in the experimental group and from 3.87 to 1.56 in the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample was small, with thirty patients total. The therapy lasted only six weeks. The study included only patients with chronic back pain. It considered only physical aspects and did not sufficiently account for psychosocial aspects. It used only the visual analog scale and the MFT balance measure. Evaluation was done only before and after the six-week program.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the post-test numbers as proof that the abdominal exercise is better. The paper reports no between-group difference, and both groups received hot pack, ultrasonic therapy, and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation plus an exercise, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.