Physical CAM Therapies for Chronic Low Back Pain (NCT00065975)

01

Study summary

This is a pilot randomized trial intended to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture, chiropractic and massage for chronic back pain in older and younger adults.

02

Conditions studied

Chronic Low Back Pain

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Keywords

chronic low back pain
acupuncture
chiropractic
massage therapy
CAM therapies

03

In context

Back Pain

2,373 studies on the registry are indexed under Back Pain; 284 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 120 is above the median of 60 across 1,941 interventional studies indexed under Back Pain.

Browse Back Pain studies →

Lead sponsor

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is the lead sponsor of 218 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible: 20 Years and older
Sexes eligible: All
Accepts healthy volunteers: No

Eligibility criteria

Low back pain duration of at least 3 months;
Low back pain occurring in the past week;
No numbness or tingling in the lower extremities;
No pain that radiates to below the knee;
No use of massage, chiropractic or acupuncture for any reason in the past year;
Able to attend scheduled appointments;
Able to hear, read, and understand English;
No low back pain surgery in the past 3 years;
No unexplained weight loss;
No previous vertebral or spinal fractures;
No previous non-traumatic bone fractures;
No other spinal pathology, including scoliosis, spinal stenosis, osteoporosis, or ankylosing spondylitis;
No cancer (except simple skin cancers) in the past 5 years;
No pacemakers;
No bleeding problems or anticoagulant use;
No major organ transplants;
No oral corticosteroid use for more than 4 consecutive weeks during the past year;
Cannot be pregnant;
Must be able to get down to and up from the floor by yourself;
Able to walk 2 flat city blocks unassisted;
Willing to participate in periodic telephone interviews.

05

Study design

Phase: Phase 2
Primary purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel assignment
Masking: None (open label)
Enrollment: 120 participants

Interventions

Proceduremassage therapy
Procedurechiropractic
Procedureacupuncture

06

Study locations

2 sites

Harvard medical school
Boston, Massachusetts 00000, United States
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
Boston, Massachusetts 00000, United States

07

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026

No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 18, 2006, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID: NCT00065975
Lead sponsor: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
First posted: Aug 5, 2003
Start date: Apr 2002
Completion: Dec 2002
Last update: Aug 18, 2006

Study contacts

David Eisenberg, MD

principal investigator · Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)

View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Physical CAM Therapies for Chronic Low Back Pain