Abstract
Purpose
To assess the changes in gait pattern and clinical symptoms of patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSLBP) following a home-based biomechanical treatment (HBBT).
Methods
This was a retrospective analysis of 60 CNSLBP patients. All patients underwent a gait evaluation and completed self-assessment questionnaires at pre-treatment and after 3 and 6 months of a HBBT (AposTherapy). Twenty-four healthy, aged-matched individuals served as a reference group.
Results
Significant differences were found in all gait parameters and clinical symptoms between patients with CNSLBP and healthy people before treatment. Significant improvements were found in all gait parameters and clinical measures following 6 months of therapy including an increase in gait velocity (10.6 %), step length (5.6 %), cadence (5 %), and quality of life and a decrease in pain (13.3 %). There were no significant differences between groups in the gait parameters following 6 months of treatment.
Conclusions
Significant differences exist between patients with CNSLBP and healthy controls in terms of gait pattern and self-assessed health status. The examined HBBT led to significant improvements in gait pattern, reduction in pain, improved function and increased quality of life. However, future studies should validate these results while comparing this treatment to other treatment modalities.
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Conflict of interest
Avi Elbaz and Amit Mor hold shares in AposTherapy. Ganit Segal is a salaried employee of AposTherapy. Yair Barzilay, Raphael Lotan, Gilad Regev, Yiftah Beer and Baron S Lonner are co-researchers in a number of studies. They do not receive and are not entitled to any financial compensation from AposTherapy.
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Barzilay, Y., Segal, G., Lotan, R. et al. Patients with chronic non-specific low back pain who reported reduction in pain and improvement in function also demonstrated an improvement in gait pattern. Eur Spine J 25, 2761–2766 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4004-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-015-4004-0