Affiliations: [a] Department of Psychiatry, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany | [b] Department of Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany | [c] Department of Physiological Psychology, Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany | [d] Centre for Psychiatry, Justus Liebig University School of Medicine Gießen, Gießen, Germany | [e] Department for Psychology I, Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Wolfgang Trapp, Department of Psychiatry, Sozialstiftung Bamberg, St-.Getreu-Straße 18, 96049 Bamberg, Germany. Tel.: +49 951 50326123; Fax: +49 951 50321009; E-mail:wolfgang.trapp@sozialstiftung-bamberg.de
Abstract:
BACKGROUND:
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a serious health problem in industrialised
countries and the efficacy of current treatment options is unsatisfying. OBJECTIVE:
The present study examines the effects of a combined intervention that
utilizes visual feedback, motion and sensory discrimination training in CLBP
patients. METHODS:
Thirty patients of an outpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation unit were randomly
assigned to either feedback or control group. In addition to standard
treatment, patients of the feedback group received 6 feedback sessions where
they watched the image of their back during a brief 2-point discrimination
training and, after that, while they were tilting their pelvis up and down
on the left and right side using their lumbar musculus multifidus solely.
The control group received 6 sessions consisting of 2 units of
physiotherapy, relaxation training and movement training (walking) each. RESULTS:
A significant effect on self-reported pain and sensory discrimination
threshold could be found for the feedback intervention, while, as expected,
other pain related variables, like pain anxiety, pain vigilance, depression
and cognitive appraisal of pain remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS:
These findings imply that very simple feedback interventions without major
technical requirements could be a valuable supplement to standard treatment
in CLBP.
