title: Naturopathic care for chronic low back pain: a randomized trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Chronic low back pain represents a substantial cost to employers through benefits coverage and days missed due to incapacity. We sought to explore the effectiveness of Naturopathic care on chronic low back pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a randomized clinical trial. We randomized 75 postal employees with low back pain of longer than six weeks duration to receive Naturopathic care (n = 39) or standardized physiotherapy (n = 36) over a period of 12 weeks. The study was conducted in clinics on-site in postal outlets. Participants in the Naturopathic care group received dietary counseling, deep breathing relaxation techniques and acupuncture. The control intervention received education and instruction on physiotherapy exercises using an approved education booklet. We measured low back pain using the Oswestry disability questionnaire as the primary outcome measure, and quality of life using the SF-36 in addition to low back range of motion, weight loss, and Body Mass Index as secondary outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-nine participants (92%) completed eight weeks or greater of the trial. Participants in the Naturopathic care group reported significantly lower back pain (-6.89, 95% CI. -9.23 to -3.54, p = <0.0001) as measured by the Oswestry questionnaire. Quality of life was also significantly improved in the group receiving Naturopathic care in all domains except for vitality. Differences for the aggregate physical component of the SF-36 was 8.47 (95% CI, 5.05 to 11.87, p = <0.0001) and for the aggregate mental component was 7.0 (95% CI, 2.25 to 11.75, p = 0.0045). All secondary outcomes were also significantly improved in the group receiving Naturopathic care: spinal flexion (p<0.0001), weight-loss (p = 0.0052) and Body Mass Index (-0.52, 95% CI, -0.96 to -0.08, p = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Naturopathic care provided significantly greater improvement than physiotherapy advice for patients with chronic low back pain.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN41920953.
authors: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Orest
authors: O
authors: Szczurko
authors: Kieran
authors: K
authors: Cooley
authors: Jason W
authors: JW
authors: Busse
authors: Dugald
authors: D
authors: Seely
authors: Bob
authors: B
authors: Bernhardt
authors: Gordon H
authors: GH
authors: Guyatt
authors: Qi
authors: Q
authors: Zhou
authors: Edward J
authors: EJ
authors: Mills
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D009324:Naturopathy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires