Does wearing unstable shoes reduce low back pain and disability in nurses? A randomized controlled pilot study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate if wearing unstable shoes reduces low back pain and disability in nurses. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Setting: Hospitals and homecare. Subjects: A total of 20 matched female registered nurses with low back pain. The mean (standard deviation) age was 31 years (5) for the control and 34 years (6) for the intervention group; height was 161 cm (5) and 165 cm (7), respectively. Interventions: The intervention group received unstable shoes at Week 2 to wear for at least 36 h/week for a month. Main measures: The Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire and a visual analogue pain scale. Results: The mean (standard deviation) pain level was 6 (1) at baseline vs. 6 (2) at Week 6 for the control group, and 5 (1) vs. 1 (1) for the intervention group. The mean (standard deviation) disability level was 31% (9) at baseline vs. 28% (7) at Week 6 for the control, and 27% (12) vs. 13% (5) for the intervention group. There were no significant changes over time on pain or disability levels for the control group. The intervention group reported lower levels of pain on Weeks 4 (mean difference ⩾–1.4, p ⩽ 0.009) and 6 (mean difference ⩾–3.1, p < 0.001). Disability levels were also lower on Weeks 4 (mean difference = −4.5%, p NS) and 6 (mean difference = −14.1%, p = 0.020). Conclusions: Wearing unstable shoes reduced low back pain and disability in nurses and might be helpful as part of the back pain rehabilitation process.