Highlights
- •Low back pain is a very common medical complaint in older adults.
- •Yoga is considered to be an effective therapy for low back pain in adults, the evidence for qigong is unclear.
- •This 3-armed trial with 176 older adults showed that yoga and qigong were not superior to no treatment in reducing pain and increasing quality of life.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the reduction of chronic
lower back pain in older adults using either yoga classes or qigong classes compared
with no intervention. Older adults (65 years of age and older) with chronic low back
pain were enrolled in and randomly allocated to: 1) yoga (24 classes, 45 minutes each,
during 3 months), 2) qigong (12 classes, 90 minutes each, during 3 months), or 3)
a control group who received no additional intervention. The pain intensity item of
the Functional Rating Index after 3 months was used as primary outcome parameter.
A total of 176 patients were randomized (n = 61 yoga, n = 58 qigong, n = 57 control;
mean age 73 ± 5.6 years, 89% female). The mean adjusted pain intensity after 3 months
was 1.71 for the yoga group (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54–1.89), 1.67 for the
qigong group (95% CI, 1.45–1.89), and 1.89 for no intervention (95% CI, 1.67–2.11).
No statistically significant group differences were observed. Possible explanations
for this lack of pain relief might include the ineffectiveness of interventions, inappropriate
outcomes, or differences in pain perception and processing in older adults.
Perspective
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the reduction of chronic
lower back pain in older adults using either yoga classes or qigong classes compared
with no intervention. This 3-armed randomized trial with 176 older adults showed that
yoga and qigong were not superior to no treatment in reducing pain and increasing
quality of life.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 29, 2016
Accepted:
March 16,
2016
Received in revised form:
February 29,
2016
Received:
September 22,
2015
Footnotes
J.K. is a Viniyoga teacher trained by the Berliner Yoga Zentrum. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
This study was performed as part of the grant for the professorship for complementary medicine funded by the Karl and Veronica Carstens-Foundation. The Yoga intervention was funded by Berliner Yoga Zentrum.
Author contributions: study concept and design: C.M.W., M.T., J.K., D.D., and S.R. Organization and data management: C.M.W., M.T., J.K., and D.D. Development of intervention: C.M.W., M.T., J.K., D.D. in participation with yoga and qigong teachers. Statistical design and analysis: S.R. Interpretation and discussion of data: C.M.W., M.T., J.K., D.D., S.R., and yoga and qigong teachers. Drafting the article: M.T., C.M.W., J.K., D.D., and S.R. All authors read, commented on, and approved the final report.
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Copyright
© 2016 by the American Pain Society
