Effect of core stability and treadmill walk exercises on the functional status of postlumbar - Surgical patients with low back pain: A pilot study

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders for which patients consult medical care. It is also the most important cause of disability and absenteeism with increasing prevalence leading to a major socioeconomic impact on society. These facts highlight the importance of finding effective and validated treatments for this disabling condition. Stabilization Exercises and Treadmill Walk Exercise are widely reported to be effective in the management of LBP. However, their effects on Post -Surgical LBP have not been widely reported. Materials and Methods: The study was a pre test- post test quasi-experimental research design undertaken as a pilot study prior to a large randomized controlled trial. Eleven (11) Participants met the study criteria and therefore participated in the study via consecutive sampling, they received Core stability exercises and Treadmill walk exercises (Bruce protocol) three times in a week for a period of six 6 weeks. Assessment of Pain intensity, Functional Disability, Quality of Life and Fear avoidance belief was carried out. Data obtained was summarized using descriptive statistics and analysed using t-test and Wilcoxon sign rank test. Results: Mean age (years) was 51.91 ± 12.44 and mean body mass index (kg/m2) was 23.56 ± 2.52. A statistically significant decrease in pain and functional disability was found among the participants (P < 0.05) with a large effect size. Significant improvement was found in the quality of life and fear avoidance (P < 0.05) with large effect size. Conclusion: It is concluded that Core stability exercises and Treadmill walk training are effective in the reduction of pain and improvement of functional ability, quality of life and fear avoidance of individuals with Post-surgical LBP.