Poster Session II
Project Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Samantha Powers
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Low back pain is the leading cause of disability in adults worldwide. Common treatment approaches for low back pain include chiropractic care, physical therapy, medical care, and educational interventions. Although some randomized controlled trials have compared specific treatments, few studies have synthesized outcomes across multiple treatment approaches to determine relative effectiveness in individuals with chronic low back pain. This study performed a quantitative comparative analysis using aggregated data from published randomized controlled trials. Treatment groups included chiropractic care, physical therapy, medical care, and educational interventions. Outcomes related to disability, pain intensity, and symptom bothersomeness were assessed using the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and self-reported bothersomeness measures. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated and weighted by sample size to allow comparison across studies. Across all outcomes, chiropractic care generally demonstrated the largest effect sizes, followed by physical therapy and educational interventions, which also showed moderate to large effect sizes. Medical care consistently demonstrated the smallest effect sizes. For disability outcomes (RMDQ and ODI), effect sizes increased over time for all treatment groups. These findings suggest that active and education-based interventions may be more effective than medical care alone in improving outcomes for individuals with chronic low back pain. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to further inform clinical decision-making.
Category
Life Sciences
Effectiveness of Common Treatment Approaches on Pain and Disability for Chronic Low Back Pain
UC South Ballroom
Low back pain is the leading cause of disability in adults worldwide. Common treatment approaches for low back pain include chiropractic care, physical therapy, medical care, and educational interventions. Although some randomized controlled trials have compared specific treatments, few studies have synthesized outcomes across multiple treatment approaches to determine relative effectiveness in individuals with chronic low back pain. This study performed a quantitative comparative analysis using aggregated data from published randomized controlled trials. Treatment groups included chiropractic care, physical therapy, medical care, and educational interventions. Outcomes related to disability, pain intensity, and symptom bothersomeness were assessed using the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and self-reported bothersomeness measures. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated and weighted by sample size to allow comparison across studies. Across all outcomes, chiropractic care generally demonstrated the largest effect sizes, followed by physical therapy and educational interventions, which also showed moderate to large effect sizes. Medical care consistently demonstrated the smallest effect sizes. For disability outcomes (RMDQ and ODI), effect sizes increased over time for all treatment groups. These findings suggest that active and education-based interventions may be more effective than medical care alone in improving outcomes for individuals with chronic low back pain. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to further inform clinical decision-making.