EFFECTIVENESS OF MULTIMODAL EXERCISE IN CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN AMONG SPINAL CORD INJURT PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Low back pain (LBP) and spinal cord injury (SCI) severely limit daily personal and occupational activities. Only 37% of people with SCI find gainful employment after their injury, and the physical demands of some jobs are a significant barrier to their return to work. Sixty percent of survey respondents with SCI said their limited physical capacity prevented them from returning to work, particularly to the same types of jobs they had before the injury. Traffic accidents, gunshot wounds, knife wounds, falls, and sports injuries are the most common causes of SCI around the world. Objective: The main objective of the study is to investigate or discover the effectiveness of multimodal exercise in chronic low back pain patients. Methodology: A single group pre-test & post-test quasi experimental design was used to conduct this study. Total 13 samples were selected conveniently from outpatient treatment service of Spinal cord injury Unit, Physiotherapy Department, Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), Savar, Dhaka. Structured questionnaire was used to assess the socio-demographic and other information of the participants. Total treatment sessions were 4 sessions per week for total 8 weeks. Outcome measurement tools: Oxford muscle grade was used to measure the muscle strength of key muscles of lower extremities, 10 meter walk test and 6 minutes’ walk test to measure mobility level and functional ambulatory category to basic ambulatory functions. Analysis of data: Inferential statistics such as Wilcoxon signed rank test was done using SPSS version 25. Result: It was found that muscle strength of the major key muscle had improved significantly (p<0.05) except left ankle planter flexors (p>0.05). As for mobility level and ambulatory function has also significantly improve (p<0.05) after applying multimodal exercise for chronic low back pain. Conclusion: In practice, creating a multimodal training program using simple exercises and low-cost exercise equipment is straightforward. Multimodal exercise promotes a sense of enjoyment, saves time, and allows patients to push themselves individually. Furthermore, patients appreciate it since it promotes camaraderie and experience sharing. Keywords: Multimodal exercise, Chronic low back pain, Spinal Cord Injury.