Study design: A randomized prospective cohort study of participants with chronic low back pain, seeking physical therapy, with follow-up at weeks 6 and 28. Effects of conventional physiotherapy and physiotherapy with the addition of postural biofeedback were compared.
Objective: To evaluate the benefits of postural biofeedback in chronic low back pain participants.
Summary of background data: Biofeedback using electromyographic signals has been used in chronic low back pain with mixed results. Postural feedback had not been previously used.
Methods: Demographic and psychological baseline data along with range of motion were analyzed from a sample of 47 chronic participants with low back pain randomized into conventional physiotherapy with or without the addition of postural biofeedback.
Results: After 6 months, there were 21 dropouts. The participants with biofeedback had markedly improved status in visual analog pain scales, short form-36, and range of motion.
Conclusion: The study strongly suggests that postural feedback is a useful adjunct to conventional physiotherapy of chronic low back pain participants.