Effectiveness of Abdominal Hollowing Exercises Versus Conventional Physical Therapy for Low Back Pain in Caregivers of Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of abdominal hollowing exercise vs. conventional physical therapy for low back pain (LBP) among caregivers of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. In this quasi-experimental study via consecutive sampling, 60 subjects with LBP were arbitrarily allocated into two groups: Group A (n=30), who received abdominal hollowing exercise (AHE), group B (n=30), conventional physical therapy for 4 weeks at the Paraplegic Centre, Peshawar. The primary outcome measures were functional disability score through the modified Oswestry Disability Index (mODI) and pain intensity using the visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaire. In terms of the mODI score and the VAS of caregivers with low back pain, a comparison was made between the two groups at baseline and the end of a four-week treatment period. At baseline, comparable results were observed. However, after the treatment, a statistically significant difference was found in both VAS and ODI scores (p<0.05). The VAS scores within group A were significantly lower (3.23±1.61) compared to the baseline scores (4.93±0.78). Similarly, the ODI scores showed a significant improvement (p=0.001) in group A in the fourth week, as compared to group B (p=0.719). AHE demonstrated effectiveness in managing LBP among caregivers of patients with SCI, surpassing the outcomes observed in those who underwent conventional physiotherapy for LBP. Considering the context of chronic LBP in caregivers, it is recommended to integrate AHE into the treatment approach, as it can lead to substantial pain reduction and diminished disability among individuals caring for SCI patients.