A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Stay-Active Care Versus Manual Therapy in Addition to Stay-Active Care: Functional Variables and Pain

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effect of manual therapy in addition to the stay-active concept versus the stay-active concept only in low back pain patients. STUDY DESIGN: A randomized, controlled trial during 10 weeks. METHODS: One hundred sixty outpatients with acute or subacute low back pain were recruited from a geographically defined area. They were randomly allocated to a reference group treated with the stay-active concept and, in some cases, muscle stretching and an experimental group receiving manual therapy and, in some cases, steroid injections in addition to the stay-active concept. Pain and disability rating index were used as outcome measures. RESULTS: At baseline, the experimental group had somewhat more pain, a higher disability rating index, and more herniated disks than the reference group. After 5 and 10 weeks, the experimental group had less pain and a lower disability rating index than the reference group. CONCLUSIONS: The manual treatment concept used in this study in low back pain patients appears to reduce pain and disability rating better than the traditional stay-active concept.