| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
Study design: RCT (FIS‐PI051650)
Setting: Spain, healthcare
Exercise groups: 1
Comparison groups: 1 |
| Participants |
Number of participants: 126 (E1 = 63, C1 = 63)
Chronic LBP duration: Not specified (not specified)
Neurological/radicular symptoms: Some participants
Mean age (years): 39
Sex (female): Not reported |
| Interventions |
Exercise Group 1 (E1): Muscle balancing and postural exercises for lumbar spine and pelvis (Godelieve Denys‐Struyf Method); type = other (co‐ordination); duration = 7 weeks; dose = low; design = standardised; delivery = group; additional intervention = not specified
Comparison Group 1 (C1): Other conservative treatment (physical therapy) |
| Outcomes |
Core outcomes reported: Pain (Visual Analogue Scale); function (Oswestry Disability Index); HRQoL (36‐Item Short Form Survey)
Follow‐up time periods available for syntheses: 8 weeks (short); 26 weeks (moderate) |
| Notes |
Conflicts of interest: None to declare
Funding source: Spanish National Institute of Health (NIH)
Other: SDs imputed |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
A simple randomisation procedure was used to assign patients to each treatment group. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of care provider (performance bias) |
High risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
The physiotherapists who treated and assessed the patients
were not the same: the latter were unaware of the treatment
received by each participant. |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Described in Figure 1 |
| Participants analysed in group allocated (attrition bias) |
High risk |
Analyses only included patients who completed treatment and gave follow‐up data. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
| Groups similar at baseline (selection bias) |
Low risk |
A baseline descriptive analysis was performed on the basic
demographic and clinical features of each group. |
| 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. |
