To evaluate the effectiveness of a back-school program in patients with non-specific low back pain (N-LBP).

This is a prospective, analytical and comparative study of 55 subjects with chronic N-LBP (period: January–April 2014). Patients were randomly assigned into two groups G1 (back-school, n=27) and G2 (conventional treatment, n=28). Each patient attended 15 sessions. During the treatment, patients of G1 were active and led by the physical therapist for 60min in which, 15min were used for teaching and answering questions concerning spine and pathophysiology of N-LBP. The same exercises were done within 45min by G2 but with the active participation of the physical therapist.

The mean age was 50.63±9.27 for G1 and 50.36±10.55 for G2. At the beginning, groups were comparable (P>0.05) in terms of age, gender, BMI, occupation, sport practice, pain and EIFEL. The treatment significantly improved the pain within each group but the difference between G1 and G2 was not significant. On the other hand, G1 results were significantly better than G2 for strength (z=3.09; P<0.001) and endurance (z=1.85; P=0.001) of the abdominal muscles and, strength (z=2.64; P=0.01) and endurance (z=1.36; P=0.04) of the spinals. We observed significant improvement in EIFEL scores in G1 (χ²=14.97; P=0.005) and G2 (χ²=29.01; P=0.001) with however better recovery of G1 patients (χ²=23.45; P=0.001).

The dynamic program of the back-school allowed a better recovery of the flexibility of the spine, strength and muscular endurance as well as a better functional scores at EIFEL. The difference between the two methods would result in the particular emphasis that was placed on mobilizations, stretching and muscle reinforcement in the active approach of the back-school.