Data for: Supervised physical therapy versus home exercise for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomized controlled trial
Description
This data is a single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial comparing supervised physical therapy (PT) with home exercise (HE) for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. The purposes of this study were to identify which types of exercise are effective and quantify physical activity using a pedometer to confirm compliance with the home exercise program. At baseline, there were no significant differences in age, sex, body mass index, duration of symptoms, MRI findings, and the outcome measures between groups (P > 0.05). At 6 weeks, compared with the HE group, the PT group showed significant improvements in ZCQ symptom severity (mean difference –0.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: –0.6 to –0.2, P = 0.001), ZCQ physical function (mean difference –0.4; 95% CI: –0.6 to –0.2, P < 0.001), walking distance on the SPWT (mean difference 455.9 m; 95% CI: 308.5 to 603.2, P < 0.001), leg pain (mean difference –1.4; 95% CI: –2.5 to –0.3, P = 0.013) on the NRS, gait disturbance (mean difference 16.0; 95% CI: 5.4 to 26.7, P = 0.004) on the JOABPEQ, physical functioning (mean difference 9.2; 95% CI: 2.1 to 16.3, P = 0.012) and bodily pain (mean difference 10.4; 95% CI: 3.3 to 17.5, P = 0.005) on the SF-36, the TSK-11 (mean difference –2.1; 95% CI: –3.9 to –0.2, P = 0.027), and number of daily steps (mean difference 723.4 steps/day; 95% CI: 199.1 to 1283.5, P = 0.008). Twenty-seven of 43 patients (62.8%) in the PT group reached a threshold of MCID of 0.36 for ZCQ symptom severity scale compared with 14 of 43 patients (32.6%) in the HE group (P = 0.009). The Fragility Index value was 3 which indicates that if 3 patients in PT group did not reach a threshold of MCID, the difference between groups lose statistical significance (P > 0.05). The self-reported home exercise compliance did not differ significantly between the two groups during the 6-week treatment period (PT group 39.1/42 days, HE group 39.1/42 days, P = 0.985). We found that supervised physical therapy resulted in significant short-term improvements in symptom severity, physical function, walking distance, pain, and physical activity compared with unsupervised exercise.