What is the therapeutic quality of exercise programs in chronic low back pain randomized controlled trials assessed by i-CONTENT tool? A meta research study protocol

BackgroundExercise therapy is a common intervention recommended for chronic low back pain (cLBP). Although adequate reporting of intervention is crucial to understand and replicate exercise therapy, it does not help clinicians to determine the therapeutic quality. So The international Consensus on Therapeutic Exercise aNd Training (i-CONTENT) tool was developed to assess therapeutic quality of exercise. Therefore, we will assess the therapeutic quality of different exercise interventions by i-CONTENT tool in cLBP RCTs and its inter-rater reliability. MethodsWe will perform a meta-research study, starting from Cochrane review publication "Exercise therapy for chronic low back pain". We will select a random sample of 100 arms with different type of exercises included (i.e. Core Strengthening, General Strengthening, Stretching, Aerobic exercises, Motor Control, Pilates, McKenzie, Qigong, Yoga, Tai Chi). For each included studys arm, two pairs of independent reviewers will assess the therapeutic quality of exercises applying the i-CONTENT tool. We will calculate the percentage agreement between raters to assess inter-rater reliability. Ethics and disseminationThis study does not require an ethics review as we will not collect personal data. The use of the i-CONTENT tool can help assess the therapeutic quality of studies, reducing the risk of ineffective exercise interventions. The studys results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national conferences.