300 Section - Efficacy of Mobile Health on Pain and Disability in People with Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

Corresponding Author/Autor a quien dirigir la corr(s)

JL

Jianhua Lin, PhD

Vice director of Department of Rehabilitation Therapy
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

Presenting Author/Autor expositor(s)

WX

Waner Xie, MS

Junior physiotherapist
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)
GH

Guojiong Hu, MS

Deputy Chief Physiotherapist
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)
XL

Xiaoquan Luo, n/a

Intermediate Physical Therapist
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)
JZ

Jing Zhang, MS

Junior Physical Therapist
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

Co-Author/Coautor(s)

XC

Xianxin Cao, n/a

Intermediate Physical Therapist
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)
YW

Yijing Wang, MS

Junior Physical Therapist
Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)
Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)
LL

Linrong Liao, PhD

Chief Physical Therapist
Dongguan First Hospital Affiliated with Guangdong Medical University
Dongguan City, Guangdong, China (People's Republic)

Objectives : Low back pain (LBP) is one of the leading causes of disability globally, affecting individuals across all age groups. Mobile health (M-health) has been suggested to be a potential solution to increase the accessibility of rehabilitation resources. However, the efficacy of M-health in the management of people with chronic low back pain in China remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of M-health on pain and disability in people with non-specific low back pain (NSLBP).

Design:

This is a multi-center noninferiority randomized controlled trail. Participants with NSLBP were randomly assigned to experiment group or control group. Participants in the experiment group received guided exercise and health education via M-health for 6 weeks while that in control group received conventional physiotherapy for 6 weeks. Pain level (present and average pain in the past week), disability, quality of life, sleep quality, fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire and adherence to exercise were measured at baseline, post-intervention and 6 weeks post-intervention. Intention-to-treat and mixed linear models were employed for data analysis.

Results: This study recruited 107 participants (Experiment group: 47; control group: 60). There were 9 and 14 dropouts in the experiment group and control group respectively. Both groups showed significant reduction in pain compared to baseline at 6 weeks (p < 0.01). No statistically significant between-group differences were observed (p=0.210) in pain. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in one-week average pain, disability index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire compared to baseline at week 6 (p < 0.01), while there were no significant between-group differences (p > 0.05). The experimental group was significantly superior to control group in adherence to prescribed exercise during treatment (p=0.005).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that M-health was comparable to conventional physiotherapy in improving pain, disability and mental health in people with chronic low back pain.