| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
Study design: RCT
Setting: Taiwan, occupational
Exercise groups: 1
Comparison groups: 1 |
| Participants |
Number of participants: 127 (E1 = 64, C1 = 63)
Chronic LBP duration: 4.09 years (long)
Neurological/radicular symptoms: Not specified
Mean age (years): 34
Sex (female): Not reported |
| Interventions |
Exercise Group 1 (E1): Stretching exercise programme: warm‐up exercise (10 minutes), back pain exercise and core muscle training (30 minutes), and relaxation exercises (10 minutes); type = mixed; duration = 26 weeks; dose = high; design = standardised; delivery = group; additional intervention = none
Comparison Group 1 (C1): Usual care/no treatment (usual activities for 50 minutes per time, 3 times per week) |
| Outcomes |
Core outcomes reported: Pain (Visual Analogue Scale)
Follow‐up time periods available for syntheses: 26 weeks (moderate) |
| Notes |
Conflicts of interest: Not reported
Funding source: Not reported
Other: None |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Each participant was provided with an unmarked and sealed envelope containing a randomly generated allocation number. |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of care provider (performance bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Eleven participants in the experimental group and 13 in the control group failed to complete the study. |
| Participants analysed in group allocated (attrition bias) |
Low risk |
The presented analyses involved using intention‐to‐treat, with missing data being substituted with the last‐observation‐carried‐forward procedure. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
| Groups similar at baseline (selection bias) |
High risk |
Difference in participant age (P = 0.01; Table 2) |
| Co‐interventions avoided or similar (performance bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Compliance acceptable in all groups (performance bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Timing of outcome assessment similar in all groups (detection bias) |
Low risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
