The aim of this master’s thesis was to examine changes in pain intensity, morning stiffness, functional ability, and performance of activities of daily living following a 10-week exercise intervention in two participants with symptomatic spondylolisthesis.
The participants engaged in supervised exercise twice a week, comprising individually tailored exercises for trunk stabilization, development of muscular endurance and strength, functional movement patterns, and mobility. In addition, they performed a short home-based exercise program on a daily basis. Changes during and after the intervention were monitored using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), recordings of the duration of morning stiffness, the ODI, PSEQ-I, and SF-12 questionnaires, as well as selected clinical and functional tests. After ten weeks, pain intensity decreased from 4 to 1 in participant 1 and from 5 to 0 in participant 2 on the VAS. The duration of morning stiffness decreased from 40 to 30 minutes in participant 1 and from 20 to 0 minutes in participant 2. Improvements in functional disability, self-efficacy in managing pain, and health-related quality of life were observed in both participants. Following the intervention, improvements were also observed in trunk muscle endurance and in the results of selected clinical and functional tests. The findings indicate potential benefits of a structured and comprehensive exercise-based approach for individuals with symptomatic spondylolisthesis and support the need for further investigation of its effectiveness.
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