Unanswered Questions and Future Research
We observed that patient outcomes improved following both treatments, which is consistent with the results reported in the literature that demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination of exercise programs and education in the treatment of patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain.
Although our study did not include an economic analysis, it is likely that when treatment outcomes are similar, a group treatment such as the Back School method will be more cost-effective than an individualized intervention such as the McKenzie method.
Another consideration in treatment planning would be patient preferences for each treatment, as it may be that some patients prefer individual treatment and vice versa.
Given the similar treatment outcomes with both methods, we would suggest future studies evaluating the costeffectiveness of and patient preferences for the McKenzie and Back School methods as important to help clinicians make informed treatment decisions in this area.
Another important point that should be taken into consideration while interpreting the results of our trial is that individual characteristics of patients might predict a better response to one of the interventions (ie, subgroups).
There are many treatment-based classifications available to better identify patients who would possibly respond better to different interventions.
However, these treatment-based classifications and clinical prediction rules are in the development stages, and clinicians cannot yet precisely match the “right patient” to the “right treatment.”
Patients who experience the centralization phenomenon usually tend to respond better to the McKenzie intervention, but our study was not powered enough to permit this type of subgroup analysis. We suggest for future studies aiming to test the McKenzie method that it would be interesting to consider the centralization phenomenon as an eligibility criterion.
Unanswered Questions and Future ResearchWe observed that patient outcomes improved following both treatments, which is consistent with the results reported in the literature that demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination of exercise programs and education in the treatment of patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain.Although our study did not include an economic analysis, it is likely that when treatment outcomes are similar, a group treatment such as the Back School method will be more cost-effective than an individualized intervention such as the McKenzie method. Another consideration in treatment planning would be patient preferences for each treatment, as it may be that some patients prefer individual treatment and vice versa. Given the similar treatment outcomes with both methods, we would suggest future studies evaluating the costeffectiveness of and patient preferences for the McKenzie and Back School methods as important to help clinicians make informed treatment decisions in this area. Another important point that should be taken into consideration while interpreting the results of our trial is that individual characteristics of patients might predict a better response to one of the interventions (ie, subgroups). There are many treatment-based classifications available to better identify patients who would possibly respond better to different interventions. However, these treatment-based classifications and clinical prediction rules are in the development stages, and clinicians cannot yet precisely match the “right patient” to the “right treatment.” Patients who experience the centralization phenomenon usually tend to respond better to the McKenzie intervention, but our study was not powered enough to permit this type of subgroup analysis. We suggest for future studies aiming to test the McKenzie method that it would be interesting to consider the centralization phenomenon as an eligibility criterion.
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