| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
Study design: RCT
Setting: USA, healthcare
Exercise groups: 2
Comparison groups: 0 |
| Participants |
Number of participants: 100 (E1 = 49, E2 = 51)
Chronic LBP duration: 34 months (moderate)
Neurological/radicular symptoms: Some participants
Mean age (years): 47
Sex (female): Not reported |
| Interventions |
Exercise Group 1 (E1): Step aerobics (10 minutes), stretching (20 minutes), strengthening (1 hour), endurance exercises, 2 sets of resistance exercises, home exercise; type = mixed; duration = 6 weeks; dose = low; design = standardised; delivery = group; additional intervention = advice/education & psychological therapy & heat/ice
Exercise Group 2 (E2): Step aerobics (10 minutes), stretching (20 minutes), strengthening (1 hour), endurance exercises, 1 set of resistance exercises, home exercise; type = mixed; duration = 6 weeks; dose = low; design = standardised; delivery = group; additional intervention = advice/education & psychological therapy & heat/ice |
| Outcomes |
Core outcomes reported: Pain (Visual Analogue Scale); function (Oswestry Disability Index)
Follow‐up time periods available for syntheses: 6 weeks (short) |
| Notes |
Conflicts of interest: Not reported
Funding source: No funding received
Other: SDs imputed |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Randomisation was done in blocks of 10, with shuffled envelopes containing group assignment. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Randomisation was done in blocks of 10, with shuffled envelopes containing group assignment. |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Same treatment but different numbers of exercises |
| Blinding of care provider (performance bias) |
High risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Not described |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Dropout rate was 18% in one group and 20% in the other. |
| Participants analysed in group allocated (attrition bias) |
High risk |
Not described |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
| Groups similar at baseline (selection bias) |
Low risk |
All demographic characteristics were similar. |
| Co‐interventions avoided or similar (performance bias) |
Low risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
| 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. |
