The effect of swedish massage combined with exercise therapy on nonspecific low back pain in the elderly: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Swedish massage combined with exercise therapy on nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP) in older adults. Materials and Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out on 70 elderly people with NSLBP. Participants were assigned randomly to the intervention and control groups. The interventional group was treated using Swedish massage combined with exercise therapy, while the control group was treated using exercise therapy alone. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) were used to determine the severity of low back pain (LBP) and the LBP disability, respectively. All participants were completed LBP and QBPDS scales for three times (at the beginning and the end of the intervention as well as 4 weeks after completion of the intervention). Results: It was seen that the participants in the intervention and control groups were similar in baseline scores of VAS and QBPDS. Using repeated measures analysis of variance, the comparison of the mean scores of both the scales in the two groups indicated that the scores decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the intervention group compared to the control group at the second and the third measurements. Conclusion: The findings indicated that the Swedish massage combined with exercise therapy could be more effective for reducing LBP and back pain disability compared to exercise therapy alone. Further studies are needed to reach more evidence.