Which of the recommended home exercises for low back pain is easier to learn and remember?

Aim: In this study, we aimed to evaluate learning time and remembering of the exercises given as a home exercise program for low back pain patients. Material and Methods: The study included patients aged 20-65 years who suffered from mechanical low back pain. All patients were informed about the study and informed consent was obtained from each of them. A socio-demographic form probing age, gender, and educational status was filled in by the patients. All the patients were taught five exercises, which were aimed at increasing trunk and lower extremity muscle length, strength, and endurance by the same physiotherapist and the exercises were repeated by the patients in the presence of the physiotherapist until they were performed fully and appropriately. In the meantime, the total number of repetitions and the duration of learning the exercises (seconds) were noted for each patient. Patients were instructed to perform these exercises for 15 days with 10 sets a day. At a 15-day follow-up session, patients were asked to perform the assigned exercises, and those who performed them correctly were recorded as "remembering". Results: Patients learned the hamstring stretch, lumbar stretch, and flexor stretch in a shorter period and learned the hamstring stretch with fewer repetitions compared to other exercises. Additionally, the lumbar stretch was the most remembered exercise. Discussion: We suggest that instead of giving patients multiple complex exercises, patient-specific exercises that can be easily learned and performed without forgetting can be selected, and thus lumbar stretch is a suitable option for this purpose.