Effect of aerobic exercise program in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain

Purpose: Exercise therapy is the most commonly recommended form of treatment for patients diagnosed with non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCBP). However, it is controversial whether an exercise method is superior to other ones. Materials and Methods: In this study, patients with NSCBP were randomized into two groups as experimental group (supervised aerobic exercise + home-based exercise) and control group (home-based exercise alone). The patients were evaluated in terms of pain severity, spinal mobility, lumbar extensor muscle endurance, presence and severity of depressive symptoms, disability, and quality of life at the time points of before treatment, treatment ends, and three months after treatment ends. Results: In the experimental group, there was a significant improvement in all assessments, while in the control group, there was a significant improvement in pain severity, spinal mobility, and the physical component of quality of life. In the experimental group, the positive change in assessment parameters over time was significantly higher than in the control group. Conclusion: Aerobic exercise may contribute to correcting the impairments, increasing activity and participation levels of patients with NSCBP. However, studies are needed to determine which type of aerobic exercise (frequency, duration, and intensity of that type) is more effective.