Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35606809›Full record

SynthesisBMC musculoskeletal disorders2022

The effectiveness of weight loss programs for low back pain: a systematic review.

Lu Hsi Chen, Kirsten Weber, Saba Mehrabkhani, Sarmina Baskaran, Thomas Abbass, Luciana Gazzi Macedo

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07731256 (A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Semaglutide for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Obesity), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07731256 phase2not yet recruitingstarted 2027, after this paper: background citation

A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Semaglutide for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Obesity

Ran2027Enrolled250Registered outcomes13Posted comparisons0ConditionsChronic Lower Back Pain, glp1 Agonist, Lower Back Pain, Obesity (BMI>30)ArmsPlacebo (administered by PDS290 pen-injector), Semaglutide (administered by PDS290 pen-injector)
PMID 39476339PMID 37385275PMID 37351564PMID 20007994PMID 27537761PMID 28192789PMID 29573870PMID 31797139PMID 32125402PMID 32520773PMID 34051018PMID 35507483other papers from this trial
Open the trial in the graph
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. "It Is a Vicious Circle": Experiences of People Living With Obesity and Chronic Pain: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES).Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
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  5. Weight management for chronic low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Lu Hsi ChenSchool of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. W. Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada.
Kirsten WeberSchool of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. W. Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada.
Saba MehrabkhaniSchool of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. W. Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada.
Sarmina BaskaranSchool of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. W. Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada.
Thomas AbbassSchool of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. W. Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada.
Luciana Gazzi MacedoSchool of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, McMaster University, 1400 Main St. W. Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada. macedol@mcmaster.ca.
McMaster University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLow back pain has been associated with obesity or with being overweight. However, there are no high-quality systematic reviews that have been conducted on the effect of all types of weight loss programs focused on individuals with low back pain. Therefore, the present systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of weight loss programs in reducing back pain and disability or increasing quality of life for individuals experiencing low back pain. MATERIALS AND

methodsSearches for relevant studies were conducted on CINAHL, Web of Science, Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase and AMED. Studies were included if they were randomized controlled trials, non-randomized studies of intervention or quasi-experimental designs evaluating a weight loss program for persons with low back pain aimed at decreasing back pain and disability. The Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) Quality Assessment Tool was used to evaluate individual studies and GRADE was used to summarize the quality of the evidence. The review was prospectively registered; PROSPERO#: CRD42020196099.

resultsEleven studies (n = 689 participants) including one randomized controlled trial, two non-randomized studies of intervention and eight single-arm studies were included (seven of which evaluated bariatric surgery). There was low-quality evidence that a lifestyle intervention was no better than waitlist for improving back pain and very low-quality evidence from single-arm studies that back pain improved from baseline after bariatric surgery. Most studies included were of poor quality, primarily due to selection bias, uncontrolled confounders, and lack of blinding, limiting the quality of evidence.

conclusionThere is very low-quality evidence that weight loss programs may improve back pain, disability, and quality of life in patients with LBP, although adherence and maintenance are potential barriers to implementation.

Indexed as

Low Back PainWeight Reduction ProgramsControlled Clinical Trials as TopicHumansQuality of LifeLow back painSystematic reviewWeight loss

Identifiers

PMID35606809
PMCPMC9125929
OpenAlexW4281296577

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.