Open AccessImmediate Benefits of a Brief 10‐Minute Exercise Protocol in a Chronic Pain Population: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Sullivan Amy Burleson,
Covington Edward,
Scheman Judith
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2009.00789.x
Subject(s) - medicine , physical therapy , protocol (science) , chronic pain , table (database) , population , physical medicine and rehabilitation , alternative medicine , data mining , computer science , environmental health , pathology
Objective. Determining the acute effects of a brief, 10‐minute exercise protocol on pain, mood, and perceived exertion. Patients. Twenty‐eight subjects who were admitted to the Cleveland Clinic Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program (CPRP), and who were capable of completing an experimenter‐designed and controlled treadmill protocol were included in this pilot study. Methods. A within‐group repeated measure analysis was used to compare 28 subjects admitted to the Cleveland Clinic CPRP. Measures of heart rate were obtained using the Nellcor Oximax, pulse oximeter; measures of mood and pain were obtained using a 0–10 Likert scale, and perceived exertion measured with a visual analog scale. Each measure was taken pre‐ and post‐10‐minute exercise protocol. Results. The brief exercise protocol was associated with self‐report of immediate antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. Additionally, after the 3‐week CPRP, self‐reports in perceived exertion decreased. Brief exercise was not found to have an acute analgesic effect. Conclusion. This preliminary research revealed a temporal association of improvement in self‐rated anxiety and depression, following a brief exercise protocol, and over the course of 3 weeks leads to decreased perceived exertion. Therefore suggesting that brief exercise is a safe, nonpharmacologic strategy for immediately improving mood, and has further implications for mortality risk.