Cognitive functional therapy reduced disability versus usual care in chronic low back pain
A review found moderately certain evidence for disability improvement, while identifying high risk of bias in the underlying trials.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Cognitive functional therapy, alone or combined with biofeedback, reduced disability compared with usual care in the reviewed trials. The authors rated the evidence moderately certain while reporting high risk of bias. The findings leave uncertainty about how long the benefit lasts and whether combining treatments improves outcomes over therapy alone.
Risk of bias was high for both pain and disability outcomes. The abstract does not report follow-up lengths, limiting what can be concluded about lasting benefit.
What researchers found
Disability
Cognitive functional therapy alone versus usual care; assessment timing was not reported. Hedges's g measures differences in standard-deviation units, not disability-score points; zero means no average difference. Negative values favor therapy.
What was compared
The review compared tailored exercise approaches, including programmes combined with psychological interventions. It examined pain intensity and disability separately. Usual care was the main reference, so the reported estimates describe differences from that comparator.
Does biofeedback add benefit?
Cognitive functional therapy alone also reduced pain relative to usual care. The combination with biofeedback improved disability versus usual care, but the abstract does not establish whether adding biofeedback works better than the therapy alone.
The original publication
Comparative Effectiveness of Tailored Exercise Therapies Alone or Combined With Psychological Interventions for Chronic, Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review With Network Meta-analysis.
Niederer D, Fleckenstein J, Floessel P et al.
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41476427
- Record checked
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