BACKGROUND: The aim of present research is to compare the effects of exercise therapy and physiotherapy that are two common treatments for pain and disability in patients with chronic low back pain. METHODS: In this research 30 patients with chronic low back pain (history of low back pain for at least 3 months) were selected. Patients allocated in two treatment groups: exercise therapy (n = 17) and physiotherapy (n = 13). Disability was evaluated using Oswestry low back pain disability questionnaire (ODQ) and pain intensity was evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS). Two groups underwent treatment for 6 weeks. Post-test was performed at the end of treatment period. Following collection of primary information and determination of different variable, covariance test with the variety factor (pre-test) in the level of p < 0.05 was used to analyze the data. FINDINGS: Research findings did not show statistical significant difference in pain (p > 0.05) but the difference in functional disability between two groups was significant (p < 0.03). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that exercise therapy is better than physiotherapy for disability improvement in patients with low back pain. Finally, this study recommends that exercise therapy can be an effective modality to management patients with chronic low back pain.

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