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Low Back PainNCT06946758

The Effects of Aerobic Exercise Combined With Core Stabilisation Training on Functional Capacity, Physical Performance and Fall Risk in Geriatric Individuals With Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain

A study testing Core stabilization exercises and Aerobic Exercises in people with Low Back Pain, run by Kirsehir Ahi Evran Universitesi at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise combined with core stabilisation training (CSE) in elderly individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSBP). The effects on functional capacity, quality of life, fall risk, functional status and physical performance will be investigated. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 65 to 84 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Low Back Pain
What is being tested?
Core stabilization exercises and Aerobic Exercises
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
60 participants
Where
1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
Study dates
1 Jul 2024to 1 Feb 2025
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 65 to 84 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Patients with complaints of low back pain for more than 3 months
  • Patients aged between 65-84 years
  • Patients with a mini-mental status test score above 24

Who cannot join

  • Those with radicular leg pain, sensory and motor deficits in the lower extremities and low back pain with inflammatory character
  • Those with previous spinal surgery, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, vertebral compression, fracture, previous or ongoing spinal infection in past history and examinations

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Turkey (Türkiye)1 site
  • Kırşehir Ahi Evran University

    Kırşehir, 40100

Other trials in Turkey (Türkiye)

About this study

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise combined with core stabilisation training (CSE) in elderly individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSBP). The effects on functional capacity, quality of life, fall risk, functional status and physical performance will be investigated. Core stabilisation exercises will be applied to both groups. The aerobic exercise intervention group will receive aerobic exercise in addition to core stabilisation exercises. The evaluations will be performed before and after the treatment and the treatment is planned for 3 days a week for 8 weeks. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) will be used to assess functional capacity, Visual Analogue Scale will be used to assess pain intensity, Oswestry Scale will be used to assess functional status in terms of low back pain, Biodex balance device will be used to assess fall risk, Beck Depression Scale will be used to assess depression, Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale will be used to assess kinesiophobia.

Read the detailed description

Ageing is associated with a decrease in physiological and functional capacities and quality of life. Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week and muscle-strengthening activities at least two days per week. With increasing life expectancy, the risk of major health problems affecting the health and well-being of older adults, such as cardiovascular disease and non-communicable diseases related to inactivity, such as diabetes, cognitive decline and poor mental health, is increasing. Considering the problems accompanying low back pain in elderly individuals, regular aerobic exercise at a moderate pace will have a positive effect on quality of life. Aerobic exercises such as walking and swimming can maintain and improve cardiovascular fitness while providing an effective treatment for various chronic and acute diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to thrombo-embolic stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, obesity, colon cancer, breast cancer, anxiety and depression . Regular light-paced aerobic exercise is a well-established protective factor for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, as well as some types of cancer such as breast and colon cancer. In the literature, it has been reported that static stabilisation exercises, dynamic exercises, a general exercise programme including a combination of muscle strength, flexibility and aerobic fitness, progressive aerobic exercise and progressive resistance exercise are effective in chronic nonspecific low back pain and that static stabilisation exercises and dynamic exercises are effective on functional status in addition to pain. Although it is generally reported that aerobic exercise is effective in patients with NSBA, there is no clear information in the literature about which exercise methods are more effective in the treatment of NSBA. In addition, many factors such as compliance of the patient population, education, and social status may affect the type of exercise that can be applied. Therefore, it is important to compare the recommended exercise protocols with various exercise programmes.

In this context, the aim of investigators study was to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercises combined with core exercises on functional status and physical performance in geriatric individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain.

Conditions
Low Back Pain
Being tested
Core stabilization exercises, Aerobic Exercises
Keywords
chronic low back pain
Medical subject headings
Low Back Pain

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Core stabilization exercisesOther

    Also called Control Group

    Patients in the core stabilisation exercise group underwent a total of 24 sessions of core stabilisation exercise programme 3 days a week (with at least 1 day of rest between each session) for a total of 8 weeks. Each exercise session was performed under the supervision of a physician in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. Each session was arranged as 35-minute programmes with an average of 8-10 patients, 5 minutes of which was warm-up. Before starting the exercise, patients were taught to reduce lumbar lordosis by contracting and drawing in the abdominal muscles and to find a lumbar and pelvic neutral position by moving the pelvis forwards and backwards. In each session, the neutral position was found first and attention was paid to maintain the neutral position throughout the exercise. The exercises consisted of 3 levels. The exercise level was completed gradually

  • Aerobic ExercisesOther

    The aerobic exercise group underwent core stabilisation exercises applied to the control group. After the core stabilisation exercises, aerobic exercise was performed with a stationary bicycle at a speed of 50 rpm for approximately 40 minutes.

Study groups in NCT06946758
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Control GroupOtherThe control group will receive core stabilisation exercises 3 days a week for 8 weeks. Core exercise programme was applied to the patients three days a week for 8 weeks. The programme consisted of two weekly parts, and each part was planned according to the weeks by ordering from easy to difficult. Prior to the core stabilisation exercise programme, low intensity 5-10 min warm-up 30 min core exercises consisting of 3 levels were performed. Exercises progressed from easy to difficult according to the condition of the patients.
Receives: Other: Core stabilization exercises
Aerobic Exercise GroupExperimentalCore stabilisation exercises applied to the control group were applied to the aerobic exercise group. After the core stabilisation exercises, aerobic exercise was performed with a stationary bicycle at a speed of 50 rpm for approximately 40 minutes.
Receives: Other: Aerobic Exercises

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Pain Severity

    Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to determine the presence and severity of low back pain in the study participants. GAS is a practical test with high validity and reliability in pain assessment. GAS is an assessment method numbered from 0 to 10, where '0' indicates no pain and '10' indicates the presence of the most severe pain. Participants were asked to mark the degree of pain they had on this scale and recorded.

    Measured: 8 week

  2. Disability

    Functional status was assessed using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). The OSI is a widely used questionnaire for the assessment of functional status in patients with low back pain. It includes subjective assessment. There are items including activities of daily living such as pain intensity, self-care, lifting, walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, social life and travelling information. The items are scored between 0-5. The final score is calculated by taking the patient's score as a percentage of the maximum score. Higher scores indicate an increasing level of disability. Turkish validity and reliability was performed by Yakut et al. in 1998.

    Measured: 8 week

  3. Risk of fall

    Biodex balance system (Biodex Medical System Inc., NY, USA, Model SW45-30D-E6N, SD 950-304) was used for fall risk assessment. This device creates stability indices by evaluating movements in the overall, anterior-posterior and right-left (medial-lateral) directions. Its validity and reliability have been established in this field. It has static and dynamic modes and 12 mobility levels of the platform (mobility level of the floor). In the limit of stability test, there are 9 balls, 1 in the middle and 8 on the edges, and when these balls light up, the person should move the centre of gravity to the burning ball and keep it there for 0.25 seconds. Each ball flashes once during the test and after the ball on the edge lights up, the ball in the centre lights up again. The aim is to move the centre of gravity in the specified direction. The test was performed three times and the extinguishing time of all balls was recorded by the device.

    Measured: 8 week

Secondary outcomes (3)
  1. Cardiopulmonary capacity

    The 6-minute walk test is used as a simple measure of aerobic exercise capacity. During this test, you walk at a normal pace for six minutes on a 30-metre long hard surface track, marking the track every 3 metres and placing a cone at the end of the 30-metre track and walking back around it. This test can be used to monitor your response to treatments for heart, lung and other health problems.

    Measured: 8 week

  2. Depression

    Beck depression scale is a widely used psychological measurement tool to assess depression symptoms. This scale developed by Aaron T. Beck is an important tool used to determine the level of depression of individuals and in treatment processes. Beck depression scale consists of a series of questions including various emotional, cognitive and physical symptoms and the answers to the questions provide information about the severity of depression.

    Measured: 8 week

  3. Kinesiophobia

    The level of kinesiophobia was evaluated with the 'Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale (TKS)'. The TQS is a 17-question questionnaire developed for musculoskeletal pain, which has been validated and reliable in Turkish. In the scale, a 4-point Likert scoring system (1=Strongly disagree, 2=Agree, 3=Disagree, 4=Strongly agree) is used for each question. As a result of the questionnaire, the person receives a total score between 17-68 according to the answers given. A high score indicates a high level of kinesiophobia.

    Measured: 8 week

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted27 Apr 2025
  2. Study start1 Jul 2024
  3. Primary completion1 Feb 2025
  4. Study completion1 Feb 2025

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
randomized controlled trials
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Investigator
Enrolment
60 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06946758
Sponsor's protocol ID
43834581758?
Status last verified
Apr 2025
First submitted
21 Apr 2025
Last updated
30 Apr 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No: Consider briefly explaining why IPD will not or might not be shared.

Publications

  • Kuzu S, Canli M, Valamur I, Ozudogru A, Alkan H, Hartavi A. Effects of aerobic exercise in addition to core stabilization exercises on functional capacity, physical performance and fall risk in geriatric individuals with chronic non-specific low back pain. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2025 Jul 29;17(1):218. doi: 10.1186/s13102-025-01271-7.

    PubMed 40734175

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Core stabilization exercises and Aerobic Exercises in people with Low Back Pain, run by Kirsehir Ahi Evran Universitesi at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 30 Apr 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Pain Severity (time frame: 8 week). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06946758, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 30 Apr 2025.

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