| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
Study design: RCT
Setting: Greece, general population
Exercise groups: 2
Comparison groups: 1 |
| Participants |
Number of participants: 39 (E1 = 13, E2 = 13, C1 = 13)
Chronic LBP duration: Not specified (moderate)
Neurological/radicular symptoms: No participants
Mean age (years): 57
Sex (female): 100% |
| Interventions |
Exercise Group 1 (E1): Isometric stabilisation exercises: isometric contractions without motion of core muscle groups, warm‐up (5‐10 minutes) and cool‐down (5‐7 minutes); type = core strengthening; duration = 4 weeks; dose = low; design = standardised; delivery = not specified; additional intervention = none
Exercise Group 2 (E2): Isotonic stabilisation exercises: dynamic contractions of core muscle groups, warm‐up (5‐10 minutes) and cool‐down (5‐7 minutes); type = core strengthening; duration = 4 weeks; dose = low; design = standardised; delivery = group; additional intervention = none
Comparison Group 1 (C1): Usual care/no treatment (control group: no intervention) |
| Outcomes |
Core outcomes reported: Pain (36‐Item Short Form Survey); function (36‐Item Short Form Survey); HRQoL (36‐Item Short Form Survey)
Follow‐up time periods available for syntheses: 4 weeks (short); 26 weeks (moderate) |
| Notes |
Conflicts of interest: Not reported
Funding source: Not reported
Other: Information modified for author contact |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
High risk |
Author contact: only patients in experimental group randomised, control group not randomised |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Assumed not possible |
| Blinding of care provider (performance bias) |
High risk |
Assumed not possible |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Assumed not possible |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
No dropouts |
| Participants analysed in group allocated (attrition bias) |
High risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
High risk |
Only outcomes with significant differences (pain and vitality) were reported. |
| Groups similar at baseline (selection bias) |
High risk |
The control group displayed a greater mean age of approximately 62 years compared with the two exercise groups with an average age of 53 years. |
| Co‐interventions avoided or similar (performance bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Compliance acceptable in all groups (performance bias) |
Low risk |
No missing responses were observed. |
| Timing of outcome assessment similar in all groups (detection bias) |
Low risk |
Support for judgement was not available. |
