Table 2 Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria | Rationale |
|---|---|
Significant participation in yoga or physical therapy in the previous 6Â months | Possible bias, confounding, or residual treatment effect |
Has read The Back Pain Helpbook or The Back Book in the previous 6Â months | |
Has previously participated in our yoga or physical therapy studies | |
New chronic low back pain (cLBP) treatments started within the previous month or anticipated to begin in the next 12Â months | |
Inability to understand English at a level necessary to understand treatment instructions and survey questions | Condition would make it difficult for fully informed consent and to follow intervention instructions |
Known pregnancy | Pregnancy-related low back pain is different in etiology and time course than the target condition for the study, i.e., non-specific cLBP |
Active or planned worker’s compensation, disability, or personal injury claims | Medico-legal concerns may bias participants’ incentive to improve or bias reporting of outcomes |
Spinal canal stenosis | Back pain possibly due to, specific disease/condition(s) |
Severe scoliosis | |
Spondylolisthesis | |
Ankylosing spondylitis | |
Large herniated disk | |
Sciatica pain equal to or greater than back pain | |
Previous back surgery | |
History of vertebral fracture | |
Active or recent malignancy | |
Active or recent constitutional symptoms | |
Rheumatoid arthritis | Condition may overlap with symptoms of back pain and/or confound treatment effects |
Severe fibromyalgia | |
Other severe disabling chronic medical and/or psychiatric comorbidities deemed by the principal investigator on a case-by-case basis to prevent safe and/or adequate participation in the study (e.g., severe disabling heart failure or lung disease, active treatment for hepatitis B/C, psychosis) | Comorbid condition(s) that may pose inappropriate risk to safety or preclude compliance with interventions |
Severe or progressive neurological deficits | |
Active substance or alcohol abuse | |
Plans to move out of the area in the next 12Â months | Known barrier to full study participation |
Perceived religious conflict with the yoga intervention | |
Lack of consent | Research policy |