Randomized Controlled Trial Effects of Qigong practice in office workers with chronic non-specific low back pain: A randomized control trial Suttinee Phattharasupharerk a , Nithima Purepong b , Sukanya Eksakulkla a , Akkradate Siriphorn a, * a Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand b Carolina Asia Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA Keywords: Qigong Office workers Chronic low back pain Nonspecific low back pain abstract Objective: To investigate the effects of Qigong practice, Guan Yin Zi Zai Gong level 1, compared with a waiting list control group among office workers with chronic nonspecific low back pain (CNLBP). Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at offices in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Seventy-two office workers with CNLBP were screened for inclusion/exclusion criteria (age 20e40 years; sitting period more than 4 h per day) and were allocated randomly into two groups: the Qigong and waiting list groups (n ¼ 36 each). The participants in the Qigong group took a Qigong practice class (Guan Yin Zi Zai Gong level 1) for one hour per week for six weeks at their workstation. The participants were encouraged to conduct the Qigong exercise at home every day. The waiting list group received general advice regarding low back pain management. The primary outcomes were pain intensity, measured by the visual analog scale, and back functional disability, measured by the Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire. The secondary outcomes were back range of motion, core stability performance index, heart rate, respiratory rate, the Srithanya Stress Scale (ST-5), and the global perceived effect (GPE) questionnaire. Results: Compared to the baseline, participants in the Qigong group experienced significantly decreased pain intensity and back functional disability. No statistically significant difference in these parameters was found in the waiting list group. Comparing the two groups, Qigong exercise significantly improved pain intensity, back functional impairment, range of motion, core muscle strength, heart rate, respiratory rate, and mental status. The Qigong group also had a significantly higher global outcome satisfaction than the waiting list group. Conclusion: Qigong practice is an option for treatment of CNLBP in office workers. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Low back pain has become one of the biggest problems for the public health system worldwide. Eighty-four percent of people have low back pain during their lifetime (Maher et al., 2017). Pre- vious studies have also reported that back disorders are associated with a particular occupation (Miedema et al., 2014; Sterud and Tynes, 2013). The increasing use of computers has been linked to the high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms of low back pain (Juul-Kristensen et al., 2004). This problem is common among of- fice workers, with one-year prevalence ranging from 23% to 38% (Juul-Kristensen et al., 2004; Omokhodion and Sanya, 2003). Office workers are frequently exposed to repetitive movement, awkward postures, prolonged static postures such as forward flexion and rotation of trunk, and manual handling tasks, which are risk factors for developing musculoskeletal symptoms (Omokhodion and Sanya, 2003; Sterud and Tynes, 2013). Moreover, they may also encounter psychosocial problems such as high job demands, time pressure, mental stress, low job satisfaction, high workload, lack of social support from colleagues and superiors, stressful work, and effort-reward imbalance at work (Rugulies and Krause, 2008; Sterud and Tynes, 2013). Exercise therapy has been widely used as an alternative and additional method for treatment of chronic nonspecific low back * Corresponding author. Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, 154 Chula-pat 2 Building, Rama I Road, Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. E-mail address: akkradate.s@chula.ac.th (A. Siriphorn). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/jbmt https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2018.02.004 1360-8592/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies xxx (2018) 1e7 Please cite this article in press as: Phattharasupharerk, S., et al., Effects of Qigong practice in office workers with chronic non-specific low back pain: A randomized control trial, Journal of Bodywork& Movement Therapies (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2018.02.004