Determining the Effectiveness of Nonpharmacological Treatment Modalities for Adult Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: An Integrative Review

Chronic low back pain continues to be a major health issue, affecting a significant percentage of the population worldwide. It is one of the major contributors to long-term disability. People with ongoing and recurrent low back pain experience lowered quality of life, long-term disability, lost productivity, and medical costs due to urgent and emergency care visits. Pharmacological treatment modalities often present with serious safety concerns, ineffectiveness due to limited evidence-based studies, undesirable side effects, and the possibility of addiction. Therefore, many clinicians and patients seek alternative approaches to remedy persistent low back pain. Various nonpharmacological therapies have shown favorable results in studies for chronic low back pain treatment. The purpose of this integrative review is to analyze, summarize, and synthesize current literature on nonpharmacological treatment modalities of acupressure, acupuncture, cupping, massage, mindfulness, spinal manipulation, tai chi, therapeutic exercise, and yoga on the prevention and treatment of chronic low back pain. These nonpharmacological treatment options have been proven to be effective in many studies, but some studies lacked high-level evidence support