The effect of Alexander technique on quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain

Low back pain has negative effects on different aspects of the live. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of Alexander technique on quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain.

This study is a single-blinded clinical trial that was performed on 80 patients with chronic low back pain in Shahid Beheshti hospital in Kashan in 2020. Patients were simple randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. In the experimental group, Alexander technique training was performed for 12 weeks, three sessions per week. The control group did not receive any intervention. The two groups completed the quality of life questionnaire before, immediately and one month after the intervention. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, Chi-square and independent and paired t-test in SPSS v=22 software.

The mean score of total quality of life and some of its dimensions (general health, physical health, social activity, physical pain, activity limitation) immediately after the sessions and one month after the intervention were significant in the experimental group (P<0.05). However, this difference in the dimensions of mental health, the role of mental health in activities and vitality was not significant (P>0.05). The results of repeated measures ANOVA showed that the mean total score of quality of life of patients in the experimental group increased significantly over time (P<0.05).

The results showed that teaching the Alexander technique increases the total score of quality of life and some of its dimensions in patients with chronic low back pain.