A world-first study conducted by Macquarie University’s Spinal Pain Research Group has found that adults with a history of low back pain experienced longer periods without a recurrence of pain if they engaged in regular walking. With around 800 million people worldwide suffering from low back pain, which is a leading cause of disability and reduced quality of life, finding effective and accessible ways to manage and prevent this condition is crucial. The study, published in The Lancet, followed 701 adults who had recently recovered from an episode of low back pain, assigning them to either an individualised walking program combined with physiotherapist-guided education sessions, or a control group.
The results of the study showed that the participants in the intervention group had fewer occurrences of activity-limiting pain compared to the control group, and went nearly twice as long without experiencing a recurrence of low back pain. With a median of 208 days before a recurrence, compared to 112 days for the control group, walking was shown to be a cost-effective and widely accessible intervention for preventing back pain. Professor Mark Hancock, the senior author of the study, explains that the benefits of walking for preventing back pain may include gentle movements that strengthen spinal structures and muscles, relaxation and stress relief, and release of ‘feel-good’ endorphins. Additionally, walking is known to have numerous other health benefits, such as improving cardiovascular health, bone density, healthy weight, and mental health.
Lead author Dr. Natasha Pocovi highlights that the walking program not only provided participants with longer pain-free periods but also reduced the need for healthcare support and time off work by approximately half. Unlike other exercise-based interventions for preventing back pain that are typically group-based and require close clinical supervision and expensive equipment, walking is a simple and accessible form of exercise that can be easily implemented on a larger scale. The study’s findings point to the potential for integrating this preventive approach into the routine care of patients who experience recurrent low back pain, providing a cost-effective and practical solution for managing and preventing this common condition.
The research team’s goal is to explore how walking as a preventive intervention for low back pain can be integrated into standard patient care to improve outcomes and reduce the burden of this condition on individuals and healthcare systems. By demonstrating the effectiveness and accessibility of walking as a form of exercise for preventing back pain, this study opens up new possibilities for cost-effective and widely accessible interventions that can benefit a larger population of individuals suffering from low back pain. With its ability to improve quality of life, reduce the need for healthcare support, and minimize time off work, walking offers a simple yet effective strategy for managing and preventing recurring episodes of low back pain.
