Resistance training for chronic low back pain in the elderly: A systematic review

Abstract

Chronic low back pain is a musculoskeletal pathology with a considerably high prevalence in the elderly. This condition increases disability and negatively affects the quality of life. Muscular resistance training is being used as a cornerstone in interventions for elder people due to the numerous benefits associated with physical and functional health. For this reason, the purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature on the main characteristics of resistance training programs in the elder population with chronic low back pain. A literature search in five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Sports Discuss, and Cochrane Library) was carried out. Inclusion-exclusion criteria were used to select experimental studies applying resistance training programs to aging adults older than 60 ages with chronic lumbar pain. PEDro scale was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. From the first 223 articles retrieved, 8 were selected to be further analysed. All the studies presented good methodological quality (PEDro scale from 6 to 10) and low bias risk. In summary, resistance training programs have been proven useful to significantly reduce pain and inability. Furthermore, significant improvements in quality of life and muscular strength parameters are guaranteed.