A digital musculature (MSK) care program from Hinge Health helped reduce chronic low back pain, disability, and surgery interest compared to a control group undergoing treatment as usual, suggests a study in npj Digital Medicine.

The mobile-first, at-home exercise therapy and behavioral coaching solution reduces chronic low back pain by 62%, reduces disability by 55%, improves daily life impact by 64%, and significantly reduces surgery interest. Participants that completed the digital care program had an average engagement each week of 90% and averaged 45.6 exercise therapy sessions, according to a media release from Hinge Health, based in California’s Silicon Valley.

The two-armed, randomized, control trial of participants with chronic non-specific low back pain included 177 participants who completed the clinical trial intervention. The participants were employees and their dependents at participating employers, across 12 locations in the US. Employees were highly diverse and included both office and service based roles such as data analysts, drivers, catering staff, and outdoor instructors.

Participants randomized into the Hinge Health treatment group received a program consisting of sensor-guided exercise therapy, education articles, cognitive behavioral therapy, team discussions, activity tracking, symptom tracking, and one-on-one coaching, all from their home through a dedicated app on a complementary tablet computer.

The Hinge Health treatment group achieved 62% improvement in pain from baseline measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and 64% improvement in daily life compared to 3% and 9% improvement by the control group (P<0.01). The per protocol improvement in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was 31% for the Hinge Health treatment group compared to 4% for the control group (P< 0.001).

Participants reported a decrease of 52% in average interest in surgery compared to an increase of 53% in the control group, the release explains.

“The findings from our two randomized control trials are strong validation of our approach to MSK care – combining the three pillars of best practice: exercise therapy, education, and behavioral health,” says Hinge Health CEO and co-founder Daniel Perez, in the release.

Hinge Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jeffrey Krauss, adds, “The Hinge Health results published in Nature journal Digital Medicine are unique because there are few digital programs with randomized control trials and even fewer with such significant findings.”

[Source(s): Hinge Health, PRWeb]