The effect of exercise as an adjunct to the conventional treatment on chronic pain and function

Abstract

Overview: Pain management is key to relieve suffering. Patients in pain are often affected both socially and psychologically, affecting their lives profoundly. Chronic pain resulting from past injuries/illnesses is one of the most common health problems for adults. This dissertation was written to increase healthcare professionals’ awareness of how to manage chronic pain, focusing on exercise to relieve such pain. It investigates the question: Does exercise as an adjunct treatment decrease pain levels? This dissertation subsequently defined PICO components: - Population (P); - Adult with chronic pain, Intervention (I); - Exercise, Comparison (C); - Adjunct treatment, and Outcome (O); - Pain relief. The inclusion criteria require that studies (full text and peer-reviewed) included in this dissertation are published in English and are more recent than 2013. These studies include RCTs, meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Participants in these studies are required to be 18 years of age or more. The studies also need to use exercise as the primary intervention, include adjunct treatment and to assess pain as an outcome. The exclusion criteria exclude studies released before 2012, are not full texts, not in English or subjected to peer review, including those without free access involving participants younger than 18. Those which did not use the adjunct treatment technique or refer to exercise as an intervention or which did not measure pain as an outcome were also disregarded. Reference is made to three RCTs, one meta-analysis-systemic review and one prospective cohort study. CASP Tools were used to critically evaluate this research. Results and Conclusion: All five studies involved in this study determined that exercise as an adjunct to conventional treatment can help manage chronic pain and improve function. The dissertation concluded that adding exercise to traditional treatment can effectively reduce chronic pain. Education on the importance of exercise is vital for better pain relief. Further research and the development of protocols to promote excursive as an adjunct to treatment are suggested.