Physical activity levels in adults with chronic low back pain: A national survey in the general Spanish population.
Marta Moreno-Ligero, Jose A Moral-Munoz, Inmaculada Failde and 1 others
PMID 36661849WHAT IT FOUND
Most adults with chronic low back pain in Spain were not sufficiently active.
Those who were least active reported more pain, greater disability and poorer mental health. This links inactivity to worse outcomes but does not prove that exercise fixes these issues.
Key findings
01Only 17% of adults with chronic low back pain met the criteria for high physical activity, while 30% were classified as having low physical activity.
02Individuals with low physical activity reported significantly higher levels of severe pain, worse perceived health, and greater psychological distress compared to those with high physical activity.
03Difficulty walking 500 metres and poor social support were strongly associated with lower physical activity levels in this population.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that inactivity causes pain or disability, or vice versa. It only shows an association. Chronic low back pain was defined by self-report, which may lead to information bias. Physical activity and mental health were measured via self-reported questionnaires, which are subject to recall bias. The study excluded adults over 70 years of age, so the findings do not apply to older populations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that prescribing exercise will reduce pain or improve mental health based on this paper. The study shows that people who are already active have better outcomes, but it does not test whether becoming active improves these outcomes for those who are currently inactive.