The Effects of Eight-Week Baduanjin Exercise on Chronic Low Back Pain and Disability Among Office Workers.

ConditionsLow Back Pain Baduanjin

Trial statusRecruiting

Trial phaseNot applicable

Trial typeInterventional

Biological sexAll

Age20-55

SponsorUniversiti Sains Malaysia

About this trial

Office workers often suffer from chronic low back pain due to long hours of sitting and poor posture. This study will test whether Baduanjin-a gentle, traditional Chinese exercise-can help reduce pain and improve physical function in office staff with long-standing back pain. Thirty participants will be randomly assigned to either practice Baduanjin for eight weeks or receive no special intervention. Researchers will measure changes in pain levels, movement ability, balance, posture, and daily functioning before and after the program. Baduanjin is a safe, low-cost, and easy-to-learn exercise that could be widely used in community health settings as a non-drug therapy for back pain.

Eligibility criteria

This trial does not accept healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Age and Occupational Requirements: Office workers between the ages of 20 and 55 years with at least two years of continuous employment.

History of Chronic Low Back Pain: Presence of persistent or recurrent low back pain localized below the costal margin and above the inferior gluteal folds, with a duration of more than three months.

Pain Intensity Assessment: A pain score exceeding 40 mm on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), indicating a moderate level of pain.

Clinical Diagnosis Confirmation: Participants must be diagnosed with mechanical (non-specific) chronic low back pain by orthopaedic sports medicine specialists from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. All participants will be required to submit their annual full-body medical examination report provided by the university between May 30 and July 30 each year. The Principal Investigator will collect these reports in advance and arrange for orthopaedic sports medicine specialists from the affiliated hospital to conduct an on-site screening at Xi'an Jiaotong University City College. During this process, specialists will review participants' medical history, evaluate physical symptoms, and consider available imaging reports (e.g., X-rays or MRI scans if previously conducted) to confirm the absence of specific spinal pathologies such as disc herniation or spinal stenosis. These specialists are experts in diagnosing and managing musculoskeletal conditions related to physical activity and sports, ensuring accurate assessment and classification of participants' chronic low back pain. Their involvement guarantees both clinical validity and safety in participant selection.

Disqualifiers

Those with other spinal pathologies such as lumbar fractures, lumbar disc herniation, spondylolisthesis, intravertebral occupancy, lumbar spinal stenosis, and severe osteoporosis. These conditions may interfere with the interpretation of outcomes related to chronic low back pain of non-specific origin, and could also affect the safety or effectiveness of the Baduanjin exercise intervention.

Persons with contraindications such as leukaemia, thrombocytopenia and other diseases with bleeding tendency, acute infectious diseases and oncological diseases. These systemic illnesses may affect participant safety or confound the results, and are therefore not included in the target population of office workers with chronic low back pain.

Suffering from diseases of liver and kidney function, serious cardiac disorders, and other diseases affecting the study. The presence of these comorbidities could influence the ability of participants to safely complete the Baduanjin exercise program, and thus they are excluded to ensure homogeneity among the target group of individuals with chronic low back pain.

Women who are pregnant. Pregnancy-related changes in posture and musculoskeletal loading can affect low back pain symptoms and response to exercise, which may confound the study findings.

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

Baduanjin Exercise Program
Behavioral
A traditional Chinese qigong-based exercise program involving eight gentle movements designed to promote circulation, strengthen muscles, and improve balance. Participants will attend supervised sessions five times per week for 8 weeks, each lasting 45 minutes.
Usual Care / No Structured Exercise
Other intervention
Participants will continue with their regular daily activities without receiving any structured exercise intervention or specific guidance related to low back pain management during the 8-week study period. They will be provided with information about the Baduanjin Exercise Program after the completion of all data collection, as part of an ethical follow-up measure.

Treatment groups

30 Participants

are divided into 2 treatment groups

Group A: Baduanjin groupExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Group B: Control groupActive comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

A 100-mm horizontal line where participants mark their perceived level of low back pain intensity, with 0 mm indicating no pain and 100 mm indicating worst possible pain. The distance from 0 to the mark is measured in millimeters and used as the score.

Time frame