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

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 31years (5) for the control and 34years (6) for the intervention group; height was 161cm (5) and 165cm (7), respectively. Interventions: The intervention group received unstable shoes at Week 2 to wear for at least 36h/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, p0.009) 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.