NCT00070915

Massage, Meditation, and Tai Chi for Chronic Lower Back Pain

Relaxation-Related CAM Therapies for Chronic Back Pain

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (planned)
• Sponsor: Kaiser Permanente · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 20 Years – 64 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This clinical trial is a preliminary study designed to prepare for a full-scale, randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of tai chi, mediation, and therapeutic massage for chronic lower back pain in adults.

Detailed description

Despite the common use of complementary and alternative therapies for back pain, little is known about how such therapies compare with each other or with conventional medical therapies in terms of effectiveness and cost. This study will lay the groundwork for a full-scale trial that will evaluate the relative effectiveness and costs of three promising relaxation-related techniques (massage, tai chi, and meditation) that are appropriate for both younger and older adults with chronic lower back pain. The pilot study will identify and resolve unanticipated problems and estimate the sample sizes required for an adequately-powered, full-scale trial. Participants with chronic lower back pain will be randomly assigned to one of the following groups: tai chi, massage, meditation, or continued usual care (control group). The participants assigned to each intervention will be divided equally between persons under and over age 65.

Conditions

• Low Back Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Tai chi
BEHAVIORAL	Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program
PROCEDURE	Therapeutic massage

Timeline

• Start date: 2000-09-01
• Completion: 2003-06-01
• First posted: 2003-10-13
• Last updated: 2017-10-13