Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of a back pain management program on back pain, muscular strength, flexibility and back pain management behavior for high school boys experiencing back pain. The back pain management program...
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of a back pain management program on back pain, muscular strength, flexibility and back pain management behavior for high school boys experiencing back pain. The back pain management program consists of back pain management education and back pain management exercises.
Methods: The study was a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. The subjects of this study were 74 students with lower back pain. The students as well as their parents agreed to participate in this back pain management program. 37 students were assigned to the experimental group and 37 students to the control group. The data was collected from September 16, 2013 to November 1, 2013. The students in the experimental group were placed in the back pain management program for 6 weeks, and the students in the control group were only given printed materials. Six weeks after the test started, back pain, muscular strength, flexibility and back pain management behavior of the students in each group were measured.
The data was processed using the Window statistics program SPSS 18.0. The statistical level of significance was a=.05. It was analyzed with general characteristics of the subjects by percentage, average and standard deviation. The homogeneity verification of the two groups was analyzed by t-test. The difference between before and after intervention was also analyzed by t-test.
Results: The level of back pain decreased significantly from 4.94 to 2.52 points in the experimental group, but that of the control group increased from 4.34 to 4.49 points. The first hypothesis, ‘The level of back pain will be more reduced in the experimental group than the control group.’ was supported (p<.001). The level of abdominal muscle strength increased significantly from 33.41 to 56.35 seconds in the experimental group, while that of the control group increased from 32.59 to 33.54 seconds. The level of back muscular strength increased significantly from 27.49 to 62.43 seconds in the experimental group, while that of the control group increased from 27.84 to 28.27 seconds. The second hypothesis, ‘The level of muscle strength will be more increased in the experimental group than the control group.’ was supported (p<.001). The level of flexibility (sit-and-reach) increased significantly from 6.66 to 11.10cm in the experimental group, but that of the control group was decreased from 6.40 to 6.20cm. The level of flexibility (trunk extension) increased significantly from 24.54 to 34.44cm in the experimental group, while that of the control group decreased from 24.66 to 24.41cm. The third hypothesis, ‘The level of flexibility will be more increased in the experimental group than the control group.’ was supported (p<.001). The level of back pain management behavior increased significantly from 33.81 to 48.05 points in the experimental group, while that of the control group decreased from 33.24 to 32.84 points. The fourth hypothesis, ‘The level of back pain management behavior will increased more in the experimental group than the control group.’ was supported (p<.001).
Conclusion: The back pain management program improved lower back pain, muscular strength, flexibility and back pain management behavior for high school boys experiencing back pain. Therefore, the back pain management program is a suitable program for high school boys experiencing back pain.