Riassunto dello studio

Five randomized controlled trials published between 1995 and 2006 comprising of 746 adults with acute or subacute nonspecific low back pain were reviewed. Therapeutic exercise was delivered as a stand-alone intervention, including strengthening, mobility exercises, and aerobic exercises. This was compared with usual care, education, bed rest, or manual therapy. Primary outcomes were pain intensity and disability. Meta-analyses demonstrated no significant overall effect of isolated exercise on pain or disability. However, when compared specifically with usual care, isolated exercise resulted in a small but statistically significant improvement in disability. Overall, the findings suggest that while isolated exercise does not outperform other active conservative interventions, it may offer modest short-term disability benefits compared with usual care alone, supporting its role within—but not as a replacement for—a multimodal management strategy.