Prevention of non-specific back pain through exercise and education: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Clinical practice guidelines stress the importance of prevention and treatment of non-specific back pain through exercise therapy. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the combination of exercise plus education is more effective than such interventions taken separately. To determine if the combination of exercise plus education is more effective for the prevention of non-specific back pain than exercise or education alone. A systematic search of studies whose sample consisted of participants without non-specific back pain (primary prevention) and participants with non-specific back pain (secondary and tertiary prevention) was conducted in the following databases in March 2023: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Medline. A total of 16 articles were selected. Statistically significant results were found in the pain variable with SMD =-2.02 (95% CI =-2.71 to -1.33; p< 0.001), the disability variable with SMD =-1.14 (95% CI =-1.63 to -0.65; p< 0.001), and the kinesiophobia variable with SMD =-1.8 (95% CI =-2.54 to -1.05; p< 0.001). Interventions that combine exercise and education seem to have a greater preventive effect on non-specific back pain, disability and kinesiophobia than those that include exercise or education in an isolated manner.