Low back pain is defined as pain, increased muscle tension or stiffness localised between the costal margin and lower gluteal folds and associated with lower extremity pain (1).
Between 70-85% of people experience low back pain throughout their lives. Almost 20% of these cases become permanent (2). Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is defined as low back pain lasting longer than three months. It is a worldwide common disease that imposes a significant medical and economic burden on individuals and society (3). Mechanical low back pain is defined as a clinical picture that develops as a result of overuse, strain or traumatisation or deformation of the structures forming the spine. In order to define low back pain as mechanical, all organic causes such as inflammatory, infectious, tumoural, metabolic causes, fractures and pain reflected from internal organs should be excluded (4).
It is very important that CLBP, which is very common in the society and is one of the most expensive diseases in terms of both labour loss and treatment cost, is treated with conventional (non-surgical) treatment methods (7). It has been reported that medical, psychological, physical approaches and multidisciplinary methods are effective in the treatment of CLBP(13). In the last thirty years, changes have been made in the basic recommendations in clinical practice guidelines. Self-management, physical, psychological therapies and some complementary medicine treatments are now given more importance and pharmacological and surgical treatments are less preferred. Guidelines recommend active treatments that address psychosocial factors and focus on functional recovery (14). Within this approach, waist protection training, which is called waist school, is accepted as an effective and economical method (5).
The lumbar school method was developed by Mariane Zachrisson Forssel in Sweden in 1969 with the aim of managing the patient's current condition and preventing recurrent low back pain (6). The programme consists of 4 sessions lasting approximately 45 minutes and each session is organised with theoretical components and includes exercises to improve mobility (5). Standard training strategies can be used in patients with chronic low back pain. However, it is not sufficient as a treatment alone. Standard training strategies should include exercise-related practices (7). Clinical guidelines state that trunk coordination, strengthening and endurance exercises should be utilised to reduce the disability in CLBP (7,8). Various therapeutic exercises are applied in clinical practice for CBLP patients.
Core stabilisation exercises (CSE) are based on a motor learning approach and provide the activation of the transversus abdominis and lumbar multifidus muscles together. These deep stabilisation muscles increase intra-abdominal pressure by adhering to the thoraco-lumbar fascia. It has a firming effect on the lumbar spine. It increases the segmental stability of the spine (9). In addition, CSE reduces pain by reversing the pain-related structuring in the motor cortex. It improves muscle strength and improves neuromuscular control of spinal stability. CSE increases the sense of proprioception and successfully corrects postural disorders (10).
Although many different interventions are widely used in physiotherapy clinics, there are few studies evaluating the effects of lumbar school and CSE, and no studies comparing their effectiveness with each other have been found. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the comparative efficacy of lumbar school training or core stabilisation exercises on pain, mobilisation and quality of life in patients with CBLP.
