The success of the stabilization exercises for chronic low back pain
depends on the patient's adherence to the prescribed exercise regime.

A study conducted at the Department of Research and Development of the
Spine Center Division at Schulthess Klinik, Switzerland reveals that
the individual success of the treatment is notoriously variable and
may depend on the patient's adherence to the prescribed exercise
regime.

This prospective study examined factors associated with adherence and
the relationship between adherence and outcome after a programme of
physiotherapeutic spine stabilization exercises.

Adherence to the 9-week program was documented as:
percent attendance at therapy,
percent adherence to daily home exercises (patient diary)
and percent commitment to rehabilitation

Pain intensity and self-rated disability decreased significantly after
therapy.

Adherence to home exercises showed a moderate, positive correlation
with the reduction in average pain and disability.

The benefits of rehabilitation depended to a large extent on the
patient's exercise behaviour outside of the formal physiotherapy
sessions. Hence, more effort should be invested in finding ways to
improve patients' motivation to take responsibility for the success of
their own therapy, perhaps by increasing exercise self-efficacy.

Whether the "adherence-outcome" interaction was mediated by
improvements in function related to the specific exercises, or by a
more "global" effect of the program, remains to be examined.

Source: PubMed
Mannion AF, Helbling D, Pulkovski N, Sprott H.
Spine Center Division, Department of Research and Development,
Schulthess Klinik, Lengghalde 2, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland,
anne.mannion@kws.ch.

Useful source: http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/backpain/ss/BackExercises.htm