Changes in Pain and Kyphosis Angle Following a Corrective Exercise Program in Elderly Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Age-related hyperkyphosis is excessive convexity of the thoracic spine. Patients have muscle weakness in the upper and lower peak of arc and they often have pain. By focusing on learning the correct posture, stretching the pectoral muscles, strengthening the erector spine muscles and deep core muscles, corrective exercises reduce the forces on the anterior vertebral body and the disc. So, this study examined the effectiveness of corrective exercises on kyphosis angle and pain in elderly women.
In this randomized controlled trial, 30 elderly women (60-75 years old) were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The subjects in the exercise group participated in an 8 week (3 sessions a week) corrective exercise program. But the control group did not participate in any intervention. In each group pain and kyphosis angle were evaluated before and at the end of the trial, sequentially using VAS (Visual Analog Scale) and flexicurve ruler. In order to analyze the data, independent and paired sample t-tests and covariance analysis were used.
Twenty six subjects participated in the post test evaluations. Kyphosis angle was changed in the experimental group from 50.58± 9.46 to 48.84± 9.67 degrees (p=0.002) and significant improvements was observed in the pain (p=0.007). But there was no significant difference in the control group (p>0.05).
The results suggested that a corrective exercise program may be effective in improving kyphosis angle and the amount of pain in elderly women. According to the results, it seems that it may be appropriate for the elderly people with hyperkyphosis to use corrective exercises along with other training methods to reduce their back pain.