Table 3. Summary of articles for patients with chronic LBP.
| AUTHORS Sample size LBP status | Methodological quality of studies | Intervention group+co-intervention | Comparison group+co-intervention | Outcomes measures of interest | Clinical relevance status on timing outcomes: between groups p-value and effect sizes |
| Ghroubi et al.62 (2007) N = 64CLBP1 | Level A 9/11Care provider not blinded? for ITT | MT14 sessions per week over 1 month | Sham MT11 session over 1 month | Pain (VAS)Functional disabilities (ODI) | YES: at 4 weeks, P<0.001 and SMD = 0.86; 8 weeks, P<0.001 and SMD = 0.54 |
| YES: at 8 weeks, P<0.001 and SMD = 0.40 | |||||
| Senna et al.63 (2011) N = 93CLBP1–2 | Level A 10/11Care provider not blinded | MT1 non-maintained | Sham MT1 | Pain (VAS) | YES: at 10 months, P<0.005 and MD = 1.9 |
| MT1 maintained 3 sessions per week over 1 month for all groups, with 1 session/2 weeks during 9 months for MT1 maintained | Functional disabilities (ODI)Overall-Health (SF36) | YES: at 10 months, P<0.001 and MD = 18.9YES: at 10 months, P<0.001 and MD = 7.8 | |||
| Niemistö et al.32 (2003) N = 204CLBP1–3 | Level B 8/11Care provider and patients not blinded? for ITT | MT2+exercise and UMC4 sessions of 60 minutes over 1 month | UMC1 session of 60 minutes over 1 month | Pain (VAS)Functional disabilities (ODI) | YES: at 1 year, P<0.001 and SMD = 0.60YES: at 1 year, P = 0.002 and SMD = 0.45 |
| Aure et al.49 (2003) N = 49CLBP1–3 | Level B 9/11Care provider and patients not blinded | MT3+exercise2 sessions of 45 minutes per week over 8 weeks for each group | Exercise | Pain (VAS) | YES: at 1 year: P<0.05 and MD = 1.5 |
| Functional disabilities (ODI) | YES: at 1 year: P<0.05 and MD = 9 | ||||
| Quality of life: Return to work | YES: at 1 month, P<0.01 and MD = 40% | ||||
| Cecchi et al.34 (2010) N = 210CLBP1–2 | Level B 9/11Care provider not blinded | MT3+UMC4–6 sessions of 20 minutes/week over 4–6 weeks | Back school+UMC Physiotherapy+UMC15 sessions of 60’ over 3 weeks | Pain (NPRS) | YES: at 1 year, P<0.001 and SMD = 0.7 (MT3+UMC vs Back school+UMC), and SMD = 1.1 ( MT3+UMC vs physiotherapy+UMC) |
| Functional disabilities (RMDQ) | YES: at 1 year: P<0.001 and SMD = 0.7 (MT3+UMC vs Back school+UMC) and SMD = 0.73 (MT3+UMC vs physiotherapy+UMC) | ||||
| Rasmussen et al.64 (2008) N = 72CLBP1–3 | Level B 8/11No for patient and care provider blinded and? for ITT | MT1+extension exercises3 sessions over 1 month+everyday exercise over 1 month. | Extension exercises aloneEveryday exercise over 1 month | Back and leg pain (VAS) | NO: at 1 month and 1 year, NS differences for all outcomes measures |
Note: CLBP = chronic LBP: 1 = LBP alone, 2 = LBP radiating not below knee, 3 = LBP radiating below knee without neurologic deficit. MT = manual therapy, MT1 = spinal manipulation, MT2 = spinal mobilization techniques, MT3 = MT1+MT2, MT3+specific and general exercises. UMC = usual medical care. NS = non-statistically significant difference. SMD = between groups standardized mean of difference, MD = between groups mean of difference. Yes = P<0.05+moderate-large effect size (SMD, MD) in favour of MT. VAS = Visual Analogical Scale, NPRS = Numerical Pain Rating Scale, ODI = Oswestry Disability Index, RMDQ = Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, SF-36 = short-form-health-survey.