Efficacy of Graded Activity Versus Supervised Exercises in Patients With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: Protocol of a Randomised Controlled Trial

• Pain [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  Pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and McGill Pain Questionnaire
  
  
• Functional Disability [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire
  
  

• Quality of life [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  Short-Form Health Survey Questionnaire
  
  
• Global Perceived Effect [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  Global Perceived Effect Scale
  
  
• Return to work [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  Patients will be asked if returned their professional activities.
  
  
• Habitual physical activity [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  The Baecke questionnaire on habitual physical activity
  
  
• Physical Capacity [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  physical capacity tests (sit-to-stand and 50-foot walk)
  
  
• Muscle Strength of Lower limbs [ Time Frame: 6 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  Handheld dynamometer to assess the strength of the knee flexors and extensors.
  
  

Objective: To contrast the efficacy of of graded activity program and supervised exercise on pain, functional disability, quality of life, global perceived effect, return to work, physical activity, physical capacity and strength of the lower limbs in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain

Design: Sixty-six will be randomized into two groups namely: Graded Activity program (GA)(n = 33) and supervised exercise (SE) (n = 33). The primary clinical outcomes will be pain, assessed with the numerical pain scale and McGill Pain Questionnaire, and disability assessed with Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes will be measured with Global Perceived Effect, quality of life, return to work, physical activity, functional capacity and strength of the lower limbs. The program lasts for 6 weeks, and sessions happen twice a week, with duration of one hour each. Evaluations will be performed before(baseline), after (6weeks) and with a follow-up 3 and 6 months after treatment. Data will be collected by a blinded examiner who also had made the allocation of patients to groups. Significance level is established at 5%.