Interexaminer reliability of low back pain assessment using the McKenzie method.

STUDY DESIGN A test-retest design was used. OBJECTIVE To assess interexaminer reliability of the McKenzie method for performing clinical tests and classifying patients with low back pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Clinical methods and tests classifying patients with nonspecific low back pain have been based mainly on symptom duration or extent of pain referral. The McKenzie mechanical diagnostic and classification approach is a widely used noninvasive, low-technology method of assessing patients with low back pain. However, little is known about the interexaminer reliability of the method, previous studies having yielded conflicting results. METHODS For this study, 39 volunteers with low b…

The McKenzie method in assessing, classifying and treating non-specific low back pain in adults with special reference to the centralization phenomenon

Outcome comparison among working adults with centralizing low back pain: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up

Our purpose was to examine if adults with centralizing pain might achieve better treatment outcomes when treated by individually designed therapy than “given advice only to stay active”. One hundred and nineteen working adults with first or a recurrent episode of low back pain (LBP) were classified as centralizers and were randomly allocated to orthopaedic manual therapy (OMT; n=42), the McKenzie (n=48) or “advice only to stay active” (Advice-only; n=29) groups. Back and leg pain were assessed by the visual analogue scale, disability with the Roland–Morris questionnaire and functional status with an activities of daily living (ADL) index. Immediately after the treatment period, LBP decrease…

Orthopaedic manual therapy, McKenzie method or advice only for low back pain in working adults: a randomized controlled trial with one year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of 2 manual therapy methods compared with one counselling session with a physiotherapist with "advice-only to stay active" for treating low back pain/leg pain and disability. DESIGN: A randomized, controlled trial with a 1-year follow-up. SUBJECTS: A total of 134 subjects with low back disorders. METHODS: Participants with acute to chronic first or recurrent low back pain, excluding those with "red flag" criteria, were assigned randomly to one of the 3 intervention groups: an orthopaedic manual therapy group (n=45), a McKenzie method group (n=52), and an "advice only to be active" group (advice-only) (n=37). Data on leg and low back pain intensity and disab…