OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an individualized yoga program. DESIGN: Pilot randomized control trial. SETTING: Military medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (n = 68) with chronic LBP. INTERVENTIONS: Restorative Exercise and Strength Training for Operational Resilience and Excellence (RESTORE) program (9 to 12 individual yoga sessions) or treatment-as-usual (control) for 8-week period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was past 24-hour pain scores (Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale). Secondary outcomes included disability (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire), physical functioning, and symptom burden (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-29 subscales). Assessment occurred at baseline, week 4, week 8, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. Exploratory outcomes included the proportion of participants in each group reporting clinically meaningful changes at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. RESULTS: Generalized linear mixed models with sequential Bonferroni-corrected pairwise significance tests and Chi-square analyses examined longitudinal outcomes. Secondary outcome significance tests were Bonferroni-adjusted for multiple outcome tests. The RESTORE group reported improved pain, compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes did not retain significance after Bonferroni-adjustments for multiple outcomes. Though, a greater proportion RESTORE participants reported clinically-meaningfully changes in all outcome at 3-month follow-up and symptom burden at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: RESTORE may be a viable non-pharmacologic approach to LBP with minimal side effects and research efforts are needed to compare effectiveness of RESTORE delivery formats (eg, group versus individual) or to other treatment modalities.

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