Gothenburg

Researchers are evaluating a digital rehabilitation program called Get Back for patients undergoing surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a common condition especially in older adults that leads to reduced physical activity and quality of life. The study aims to assess whether Get Back is more effective than standard rehabilitation in increasing daily steps, improving physical activity levels, and enhancing functional ability. This multicenter randomized controlled trial includes 252 patients from four spinal clinics and also investigates cost-effectiveness and how preoperative physical and psychological factors influence recovery. The Get Back program is a fully digital, person-centered rehabilitation intervention led by a physical therapist over 13 weeks, starting one week before surgery. It includes one pre-surgery video session, up to five core video sessions, and five booster telephone sessions. The program focuses on gradually increasing physical activity, addressing fear avoidance behaviors, and using behavior change techniques. Participants set personalized activity goals and track their progress using a weekly diary. The control group receives standard physical therapy as provided by each clinic. Participants undergo baseline assessments about two weeks before surgery using a digital platform, including demographic data collection, physical tests, questionnaires, and wearing an accelerometer for seven days. Follow-ups are scheduled at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery to collect accelerometer data, questionnaires, and physical tests. Researchers will measure daily steps as the primary outcome along with clinical data and patient experiences. A subgroup of intervention participants will be interviewed about their program experience at 3 months post-surgery.