Overview of the Pregnancy Low Back Pain Study
If you are pregnant with low back pain you may be eligible to participate in an Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) study that compares three drugless interventions in Portland, Oregon:
This is a randomized controlled trial for about 90 women. If you participate in the study you will be randomly placed in one of the three intervention groups. You cannot decide which type of intervention you will receive.
Intervention Schedule
You may begin the study at any time in your pregnancy. If you are entered into the study you can expect to be evaluated and intervention applied on the same schedule as your prenatal visits:
- Once a month until 28 weeks gestation
- Twice a month until 36 weeks gestation
- Once a week after 37 weeks gestation
- If your back hurts a lot it may be necessary to treat you more frequently.
Follow Up After Pregnancy
After you have your baby you will have three additional follow-up study visits
- 2 weeks postpartum at your home
- 6 weeks postpartum at your home
- 3 months postpartum at OHSU
Study Visits
The first study visit takes about 1-1.5 hours.
The other intervention study visits take about 30-60 minutes.
The follow-up study visits take about 30 minutes.
You will also be asked to complete a one hour interview about your growing up experiences.
At most study visits you will be asked to
- Fill in some paperwork about your pain and feelings about your baby
- Spend 5 minutes before and after intervention with a little clip attached to your ear that collects data about the rhythm of your heart beat
- Receive an intervention
- You will also give a little bit of saliva five times to check the "hormone of love" called oxytocin, and a little bit of blood once to check the same hormone
- In the follow-up period after you have your baby we will take about 5 minutes video of you playing with your baby each time.
- You will receive $20 for each study visit you complete
- You will receive intervention at each study visit
- All study visits will take place at OHSU in Multnomah Pavillion 3rd Floor #3309
OHSU IRB#5033 PI, W. Thomas Gregory, MD
