• Giovanni Morone, Marco Iosa, Teresa Paolucci, Augusto Fusco, Rosaria Alcuri, Ennio Spadini, Vincenzo Maria Saraceni, and Stefano Paolucci.
• Movement and Brain Laboratory, Santa Lucia foundation, Rome, Italy. g.morone@hsantalucia.it
• Clin Rehabil. 2012 Apr 1;26(4):339-50.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of a perceptive rehabilitative approach, based on a new device, with regard to pain and disability in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain.DesignSingle blind, randomized, controlled trial.SettingAn outpatient academic hospital.PatientsSeventy-five patients with chronic low back pain.InterventionsPatients were randomized into three groups. Twenty-five subjects received 10 sessions in one month, based on specific perceptive exercises that were performed on a suitably developed device. Twenty-five patients entered a Back School programme. Twenty-five patients comprised a control group that received the same medical and pharmacological assistance as the other groups.Main Outcome MeasuresPain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale and McGill Pain Questionnaire. Disability was evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index and Waddell Disability Index. All measurements were recorded before treatment, at the end of the study, and at 12 and 24 weeks.ResultsGeneral pain relief was recorded in all the groups, which was elicited more quickly in the perceptive treatment group; significant differences in pain scores were observed at the end of treatment (P < 0.001 for visual analogue scale and P = 0.001 for Questionnaire) versus the other groups. Disability scores in the perceptive group did not differ significantly from those in the other group, whereas these scores significantly differed between Back School and control groups at the follow-ups (P < 0.01 for both scales).ConclusionPerceptive rehabilitation has immediate positive effects on pain. Back School reduces disabilities at follow-up.

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