Reanalysis of a tailored web-based exercise programme for office workers with sub-acute low back pain: Assessing the stage of change in behaviour

Objective: To reanalyse a web-based intervention for physically untrained office workers with sub-acute non-specific low back pain in low back pain-related exercise behaviour terms. Design: Reanalysis of a randomized controlled trial. Setting: Occupational Preventive Medicine of University. Methods: Participants were randomized to an intervention group (proposed intervention plus standard care) or a control group (usual care only). The intervention exercise and education materials were developed as an online resource, and included video demonstrations recorded in a laboratory. Resources were loaded onto a dedicated section of the University Preventive Medicine Service website. All sessions included stretching, and exercises to improve postural stability (abdominal, lumbar, hip and thigh muscles) strength, flexibility and mobility. Outcome measures were self-reported health status (visual analogue scale (VAS) of the Euroquol-5D questionnaire); functional health status (Oswestry disability questionnaire); and the stage of change questionnaire. At nine months, outcomes in the intervention group were analysed and compared with baseline and outcomes in controls. Results: In the intervention group, significant positive effects were observed at nine-month follow up for stage of change in the behavioural domain as related with low back pain for all phases except for the contemplation phase. The positive change in the stage of change questionnaire correlated with the improvement observed in Oswestry (r = .388) and VAS (r = −.612). Conclusions: The reanalysis of the trial suggests that exercise behaviour related to low back pain improve after the intervention period. This improvement correlates with changes in clinical low back pain-related outcomes.