Trial reportPain2008
Efficacy of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and therapeutic exercise for older adults with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Pain, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Outcome domains of patient-reported outcome measures used in randomised controlled trials for older adults with non-specific low back pain: a systematic review.Age and ageing · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic Review to Inform a World Health Organization (WHO) Clinical Practice Guideline: Benefits and Harms of Structured Exercise Programs for Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Adults.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy on pain intensity and disability in older people with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review with meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of exercise therapy on disability, mobility, and quality of life in the elderly with chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Pooled it
- Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2019Pooled it
- The effect of journal impact factor, reporting conflicts, and reporting funding sources, on standardized effect sizes in back pain trials: a systematic review and meta-regression.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2015Pooled it
- Pharmacological management of chronic low back pain in older patients: a randomized controlled trial of the effect of pregabalin and opioid administration.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2015Trial
- Efficacy of movement control exercises versus general exercises on recurrent sub-acute nonspecific low back pain in a sub-group of patients with movement control dysfunction. Protocol of a randomized controlled trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2012Trial
- Therapeutic Exercise Progression in Patients with Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Do Electrical Stimulation Devices Reduce Pain and Improve Function?-A Comparative Review.Pain and therapy · 2023Review
- An Updated Overview of Low Back Pain Management.Asian spine journal · 2022Article
- Effectiveness of Combined General Rehabilitation Gymnastics and Muscle Energy Techniques in Older Women with Chronic Low Back Pain.BioMed research international · 2019Article
- Effectiveness of Strengthening Exercises for the Elderly with Low Back Pain to Improve Symptoms and Functions: A Systematic Review.Scientifica · 2016Review
- Alternative Medications for Medications in the Use of High-Risk Medications in the Elderly and Potentially Harmful Drug-Disease Interactions in the Elderly Quality Measures.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2015Article
- Integrative therapies for low back pain that include complementary and alternative medicine care: a systematic review.Global advances in health and medicine · 2014Review
- Pain as the fifth vital sign: exposing the vital need for pain education.Clinical therapeutics · 2013Article
- Fear avoidance beliefs predict disability in older adults with chronic low back pain.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2012Article
- The role of chiropractic care in older adults.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2012Article
- Reduction of chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomised controlled clinical trial on acupuncture and baclofen.Chinese medicine · 2010Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) in older adults may be disabling and therapeutically challenging, largely because of the inefficacy and/or morbidity associated with traditional pain treatment. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in 200 men and women > or = age 65 with CLBP to evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS) with and without general conditioning and aerobic exercise (GCAE), for reducing pain and improving physical function. Participants were randomized to receive (1) PENS, (2) control-PENS (brief electrical stimulation to control for treatment expectancy), (3) PENS+GCAE, or (4) control-PENS+GCAE, twice a week for 6 weeks. All four groups experienced significantly reduced pain (range -2.3 to -4.1 on the McGill Pain Questionnaire short form), improved self-reported disability (range -2.1 to -3.0 on Roland scale) and improved gait velocity (0.04-0.07 m/s), sustained at 6 months. The GCAE groups experienced significantly fewer fear avoidance beliefs immediately post-intervention and at 6 months than non-GCAE groups. There were no significant side effects. Since brief electrical stimulation (i.e., control-PENS) facilitated comparably reduced pain and improved function at 6 months as compared with PENS, the exact dose of electrical stimulation required for analgesia cannot be determined. GCAE was more effective than PENS alone in reducing fear avoidance beliefs, but not in reducing pain or in improving physical function.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.