Effects of Thoracic Mobility Exercise Program on Pain, Proprioception, and Static Balance Ability in Patients with non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the thoracic mobility exercise program on pain, proprioception, and static balance ability in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. Design: Randomized controlled trial design. Methods: Thirty patients with non-specific chronic low back pain participated in this study. The participants were randomized into the thoracic mobility exercise group (n＝15) and the lumbar stabilization exercise group (n＝15). Both groups received traditional physical therapy for 30 minutes per session. In addition, the thoracic mobility exercise group and the lumbar stabilization exercise group each exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks. All participants were measured visual analog scale, proprioception test, and static balance ability before and after the intervention. Results: After 6 weeks of interventions, the thoracic mobility exercise group showed greater improvement in visual analog scale, proprioception test, and static balance ability than the LSE group (p＜0.05). Further, the thoracic mobility exercise group had significant Enhancements in all measured variables compared to the baselinetest (p＜0.05). However, the lumbar stabilization exercise group had significant improvement only visual analog scale, and static balance ability compared to the baselinetest (p＜0.05). Conclusions: Our investigation demonstrates that the thoracic mobility exercise is an effective intervention method for improving pain, proprioception, and static balance ability in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain.