Study population
Co-morbidity, pain
RECURRENCE, RECRUITMENT
Participants were recruited via community advertising (e.g. via social media, company newsletters, flyer distribution) or through clinician referrals (e.g. General Practitioners (GP), physiotherapists, chiropractors, surgeons). All advertising directed people with enquiries to the trial website where potential participants could find out more about the trial, express interest, and complete a pre-screening questionnaire. Individuals identified as potentially eligible based on pre-screening then underwent full screening and explanation of the trial over the phone by a member of the research team prior to inclusion.We recruited 701 consenting participants based on the following inclusion criteria:Aged 18 years and older.Experienced an episode of non-specific Recovered at the time of enrolment in the trial. Recovery was defined as > 7 consecutive days with pain no greater than 1 on a 0–10 scale.Participants were excluded at the time of screening based on the following criteria:Co-morbidity preventing safe participation in a walking program.Current participation in an exercise program aiming to prevent recurrence of LBP.Walking for exercise 3 or more times per week for at least 30 min per day.Achieving more than 150 min of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity weekly (across a minimum of 3 days per week).Spinal surgery in the preceding 6 months.Currently pregnant.Inadequate English to complete outcome measures (i.e. questionnaires).There was a change made to the exclusion criteria in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, participants were only eligible for the trial if they were able to attend face-to-face consultations with the trained study physiotherapists in Sydney, Australia. The decision was made to transition to telehealth delivery of the intervention on the 1st of April 2020, to ensure the safety of both participants and the clinicians. This was done following consultation with trial clinicians, who reported confidence in delivering the intervention via telehealth.As COVID-related restrictions eased, participants were offered the option of telehealth or face-to-face delivery of the intervention. This change in protocol allowed for recruitment to be extended across Australia, with geographical location no longer being a barrier to enrolment. These changes were approved by the Macquarie University Ethics Committee and updates were made to the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR).