The Effect of a Pilates Exercise Programme on Perceived Functional Disability and Pain Associated with Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain

Non-specific low back pain (LBP) is a symptom of unknown cause affecting one third of the UK adult population, accounting for more than 15 million lost work days and an estimated annual cost of £12.3 billion. Pilates based exercise is becoming increasingly incorporated in to spinal rehabilitation, yet there is limited evidence on the efficacy of the technique. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 6-week Pilates based exercise programme on perceived functional disability, pain, local muscular endurance and lumbar range of motion in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. Participants (n=13) with chronic non-specific LBP (>12-weeks) were recruited to a pre-post intervention trial. All participants were assigned to a 6-week control period. Subsequently, participants undertook one hour of a Pilates based exercise intervention twice per week for 6-weeks. Perceived functional disability and pain were assessed using the Oswestry functional disability questionnaire (ODQ) and visual analogue scale (VAS) respectively. Local muscular endurance (CE) and lumbar range of motion (LF) were assessed using the core endurance test and the fingertip to floor distance (FFD) respectively. Functional disability (ODQ), pain (VAS), local muscular endurance and lumbar flexion (FFD) improved after the intervention period (P0.05). The results of this pre-post intervention trial suggest that Pilates based exercise can be administered safely and is well tolerated by the majority of patients with nonspecific chronic LBP