Table 1.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
Patients with chronic (≥3 months) or recurrent (≥3 episodes in previous 12 months) LBP of mechanical origin with/without radiation to the lower limb	Clinically diagnosed primary sleep disorder e.g sleep apnoea, primary insomnia
Males/females between 18-70 years	Currently or having received treatment for CLBP within previous 3 months
No spinal surgery within the previous 12 months	Patients scoring <10 indicating minimum disability on the Oswestry Disability Index
Patients scoring ≥10 indicating moderate disability on the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).	Red flags indicating serious spinal pathology, e.g. cancer, cauda equina lesion
Patients deemed suitable by their GP/hospital consultant to carry out an exercise programme	Radicular pain indicative of nerve root compression
Patients willing to attend for an 8-week treatment programme of exercise classes	Patients diagnosed with severe spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, fibromyalgia
Fluency in English (verbal and written)	History of systemic/inflammatory disease, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis
Access to a telephone (for follow-up support)	Patients with any confounding conditions such as a neurological disorder or currently receiving treatment for cancer
	Patients with acute (<6 weeks) or subacute LBP (6-12 weeks), provided that they have experienced <3 LBP episodes during previous 12 months
	Unstable angina/uncontrolled cardiac dysrhythmias/severe aortic stenosis/acute systemic infection accompanied by fever
	Medico-legal issues
	Pregnancy