Dec. 11, 2014/Portland, Ore- Dr. Bruce Farmer, M.D., creator of the physical medicine Back in Action program designed to relieve back and spinal pain in patients seeking an alternative to surgery announces a signed partnership agreement with Oregon Health & Sciences University Department of Rehabilitation Services for a research study using Back in Action.
The purpose of the research study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Back in Action, a 6 week home-based therapeutic exercise program developed by Dr. Bruce Farmer to assist patients with self-identified severe back pain regain function and better pain control plus weekly group therapy sessions vs. one on one traditional physical therapy. The outcome will determine whether home-based Back in Action is a more cost effective intervention for this patient population of chronic low back pain sufferers, currently costing billions of dollars in lost productivity and medical care.
The proposed research compares three treatment groups in which participants are randomized to either Group A using the home-based Back in Action Back Pain program plus weekly group sessions, Group B using a traditional Physical Therapy approach of one on one weekly sessions for six weeks, and Group C using the home-based Back in Action Program plus one on one weekly sessions with Dr. Farmer. Requirements for entry into the study include patients with back pain lasting longer than 6 months, the absence of motor loss and MRI proven severe spinal stenosis. Post-lumbar laminectomy patients with pain present 12 months after surgery are also candidates. Tools used to determine outcomes of this study are The Pain Disability Index, Patient Specific Functional Outcome Scale and the Decisional Balance Scale, each used on the initial evaluation, at 6 weeks and three months. For more information about Back in Action visit http://www.FitnessTherapeutics.com. For media inquiries contact Diane at [email protected] or 503-678-1356
About Bruce Farmer
Dr. Bruce Farmer, MD is President and Founder of Fitness Therapeutics Inc and creator of the Back in Action (TM) Back Pain program of home-based therapeutic exercises. He is a certified personal trainer (ACSM), certified corrective exercise specialist (NASM), and Wellcoach (Wellcoaches Corporation). Since suffering a severe back injury ten years ago, he has devoted his career to developing solutions for back and musculoskeletal pain relief.
Dr. Farmer’s most recent presentation on back pain was the November 11, 2014 Grands Rounds at Bastyr University, Seattle, WA Introduction to Low Back Pain: Causes and Movement-based Solutions.
