Worksite Exercise Interventions for Low Back Injury Prevention in Firefighters

Completed · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Low Back Pain

In brief

Purpose and Aims: The purpose of this study is to assess the clinical effectiveness of back and core exercise interventions for low back injury prevention in firefighters. Aim 1. Compare the effectiveness of 2 worksite exercise interventions (supervised, web-based) relative to control to reduce lost work days related to low back injury and illness in firefighters. Relevance: Low back injury is one of the most common and disabling disorders in firefighters. Thus, novel interventions are needed to counteract the adverse consequences of this disorder and its impact on firefighter safety. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted in career, full active duty firefighters (n = 345) who will be randomly assigned (by fire station) to 1 of 3 intervention groups - 1) supervised exercise (n = 115), 2) web-based exercise (n = 115), or 3) control (n = 115). Participants in the supervised and web-based exercise groups will perform back and core exercises previously tested in our recent FEMA-funded grant (EMW-2009-FP-00418), twice per week for 12 months while on duty, in addition to their usual physical fitness routine - The supervised group will perform exercise under direct supervision of certified exercise specialists, and the web-based group will utilize a web-based exercise system. The control group will not perform back and core exercises, but will continue their usual physical fitness routine and receive brief education on general exercise and physical activity principles. Outcome measures include low back injury and illness data obtained and cross-checked from various sources, other standard clinical outcome measures for low back pain and disability, and validated physical fitness tests. Anticipated Outcomes: We hypothesize that the supervised and web-based interventions will reduce lost work days related to low back injury and illness by 40% compared with control. Assuming positive results, this study will deliver an evidence-based exercise intervention for low back injury prevention specifically designed for firefighters and assessed in a full-scale randomized controlled trial.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02362243

Run by

University of South Florida

People needed

264

Starts

2016-03-01

Expected to finish

2018-04-30

Last updated by the study team

2018-07-02

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Age 18 years or older.
• Full duty, regular service, career firefighter housed at a standard fire station from Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, St. Petersburg Fire \& Rescue, or Tampa Fire Rescue.

You may not qualify if…

• Current workers' compensation or personal injury case or litigation
• Research personnel (e.g. firefighter peer fitness trainers).
• Participant in the exercise intervention group of our previous FEMA-funded study (EMW-2009-FP-00418).

Where it is running

• University of South Florida — Tampa, Florida, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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