| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
Study design: RCT
Setting: South Korea, general population
Exercise groups: 1
Comparison groups: 1 |
| Participants |
Number of participants: 42 (E1 = 21, C1 = 21)
Chronic LBP duration: 11 months (moderate)
Neurological/radicular symptoms: No participants
Mean age (years): 52
Sex (female): 50% |
| Interventions |
Exercise Group 1 (E1): Spinal stabilisation exercises, core muscle strengthening through training the isometric holding function of spinal muscles; type = core strengthening; duration = 4 weeks; dose = low; design = standardised; delivery = group; additional intervention = none
Comparison Group 1 (C1): Other conservative treatment (education) |
| Outcomes |
Core outcomes reported: Function (Oswestry Disability Index)
Follow‐up time periods available for syntheses: 4 weeks (short) |
| Notes |
Conflicts of interest: Not reported
Funding source: National Agenda Project, Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science & Technology (P‐09‐JC‐LU63‐C01); Korea University; Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2010‐0003015)
Other: Sufficient data not available for inclusion in meta‐analyses |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
A randomisation list was provided, with patients having an equal chance of being allocated to the intervention or control group. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
The co‐ordinator ensured anonymity of allocation with respect to randomisation. |
| 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 |
High risk |
Not described |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
Assumed no dropouts but not specified |
| Participants analysed in group allocated (attrition bias) |
Unclear risk |
Assumed no dropouts but not specified |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Unclear risk |
Pain and Oswestry Disability Index at baseline looked to be different between the two groups. |
| Groups similar at baseline (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Inspected descriptive statistics for sample characteristics and scatter plots of the data to ensure that no outliers existed in the data set |
| Co‐interventions avoided or similar (performance bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not described |
| Compliance acceptable in all groups (performance bias) |
Unclear risk |
Patients kept an exercise log, and phone calls were made to ensure compliance with the exercise protocol. |
| Timing of outcome assessment similar in all groups (detection bias) |
Low risk |
Four weeks |
