Increasing Long-Term Physical Activity After Lumbar Spine Surgery

Increasing Long-Term Physical Activity After Lumbar Spine Surgery

After recuperating from low back surgery patients often perpetuate a sedentary lifestyle because they are concerned about injury and recurrent pain. The objective of this study is to test the feasibility of a program to increase lifestyle walking starting several months after low back surgery.

The primary objective of this RCT is to compare energy expenditure from walking between an experimental group that receives a multi-component intervention based on the Health Belief Model of Behavior Change versus a control group. Patients who had surgery for a degenerative condition will be randomized postop when their surgeons deem them orthopedically stable to increase walking (at about 3 months).

• Inclusion Criteria: Patients will be eligible if they had lumbar surgery for a degenerative condition and their surgeon deems it safe for them to walk more.
• Exclusion Criteria: Patients will be excluded if they had any new cardiopulmonary symptoms since surgery.