Session Information
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019
Session Title: Research Spotlight: Spine and Pain Medicine
Session Time: 2:30pm-3:15pm
Location: Research Hub - Live Theater
Disclosures: Jasal Patel, MD: Nothing to disclose
Objective: To evaluate the changes in pain, function, and gait parameters with the use of Footwear-Generated Biomechanical Manipulation of Gait (FGBMG) and perturbation training in a metropolitan population with Chronic Non Specific Low Back Pain (CNSLBP).
Design: Randomized controlled trial
Setting: Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinic at an Academic Teaching Hospital.
Participants: Patients aged 30-75 suffering from CNSLBP for at least 6 months were recruited.
Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: Traditional physical therapy (TPT) or a home-based therapy that uses FGBMG and perturbation training. The assigning ratio was a 1:2 ratio (TPT to FGBMG). Patients were assessed with instrumental gait analysis and an Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODQ) at 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks by a blinded research fellow.
Main Outcome Measures: Instrumental gait analysis (gait velocity) and ODQ for pain and function.
Results: 35 patients (ages 30-75) that underwent either TPT or FGBMG for CNSLBP were assessed. 3 patients (3 TPT) were excluded, as they did not complete all assessments to 12 weeks. There was significant improvement in the mean gait velocity in both groups at 12 weeks; FGBMG [n=23, 98.35 (14.85) to 114.81 (23.40) cm/s, P<.00001], and TPT [n=9, 96.44 (29.95) to 105.05 (25.79) cm/s, P<.05]. Median ODQ scores (range 0-100%) improved in both groups but were only significant in the group that underwent FGBMG (32% to 26%, P<.04) compared to those who received TPT (28% to 20%, P<.93).
Conclusions: At 12 weeks, patients with CNSLBP undergoing FGBMG and TPT both had improvements in gait speed, but FGBMG demonstrated a significantly greater improvement of objective gait speed versus TPT with improved pain and function when compared to TPT. From these findings, FGBMG may be an alternative to TPT for patients with CNSLBP.
Level of Evidence: Level I
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Patel J, Soleymani S, Pujar B, Kim S, Lee SW, Manatt R, Regala D, Bartels MN. The Effects of Footwear Generated Biomechanical Manipulation of Gait on Pain and Function in a Chronic Non Specific Low Back Pain Population [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/the-effects-of-footwear-generated-biomechanical-manipulation-of-gait-on-pain-and-function-in-a-chronic-non-specific-low-back-pain-population/. Accessed May 12, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/the-effects-of-footwear-generated-biomechanical-manipulation-of-gait-on-pain-and-function-in-a-chronic-non-specific-low-back-pain-population/