The functional evaluation of a back belt rehabilitation for low-back pain patients

Back belts are used for preventative and therapeutic purposes. The outcome measures fail to support the use of back belts to treat or prevent back injuries. The purposes of this study were (1) to estimate the reliability and responsiveness of the health outcome for individuals participating in back belt rehabilitation, and (2) to compare the health-related quality of life between individuals with low-back pain (LBP) and normal subjects. Twenty-three volunteers without any complaint of LBP and 95 LBP patients participated in this study. The mobility test and the SF-36 provide reliable and responsive measurements, but they appear to provide different information about the health status of LBP patients. Compared with normal subjects, LBP patients had lower scores for health-related quality of life, but these scores improved after 12 weeks of back belt rehabilitation. Relevance to industry: A clinically based outcome measure can provide a reliable and responsive tool for the routine assessment of perceived health in patients undergoing back belt rehabilitation. This evaluation program will be continuously used to screen workers using back belts for successful back injury prevention. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.