Muscle Activation Changes After Exercise Rehabilitation for Chronic Low Back Pain

Flowchart based on the CONSORT guidelines for participant flow through the study.

Photographs of the Swiss ball exercise program prescribed in this study.

Photographs of the control exercise program prescribed in this study.

Changes in ODI score over time for the 4 groups in the study. Note the significant difference between the Swiss ball (M-SB, NM-SB) exercise groups and the control exercise groups (M-C, NM-C) at the 16-week time point.

FR responses measured for the right and left T12-L1 sites at each of the assessment time points.

FR responses measured for the right and left L4-5 sites at each of the assessment time points.

Changes in the latency response measured from right transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscles for the shoulder flexion task. A significant time effect was identified from the repeated-measures ANOVA from 16 to 56 weeks only. No group effects were identified from the analysis. ANCOVA and correlation analysis found that subjects with higher baseline latency times had the greater improvements during the intervention.