Cognitive functional therapy offers fresh hope for chronic back pain

Almost 500 people who had back pain for around four years trialled the new treatment in clinics around Australia, the research team outlines in The Lancet.

The new approach

Delivered by physiotherapists, cognitive functional therapy includes:

• Lifestyle changes to improve social and emotional health;
• Personalised and intensive coaching sessions to help people make sense of their pain;
• Retraining people to move in ways that reduce their pain;
• Build confidence in movements and activities that people are avoiding.

Seven sessions of cognitive functional therapy were given over 12 weeks, followed by a booster session at six months.

Outcome

Large improvements in the intensity of pain and pain-related disability were enjoyed by participants. In fact, over 80% of participants were satisfied with the treatment a year later.

“These exciting results give hope to the millions of people around the world who are disabled by back pain,” explains Prof Peter Kent who led the work. “It also provides a clear roadmap for clinicians, health services and policymakers on how to reduce the growing burden of chronic back pain with a high-value, low-risk approach based on the best scientific evidence.”

The team asserts that cognitive functional therapy can deliver significant savings to the global economy because lower back pain contributes to a loss of work productivity and early retirement worldwide.

Click here to read the original findings.

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