ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF SELECTED STRETCHING EXERCISES ON MAGNITUDE OF DISABILITY AMONG YOUNG ADULTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN IN SAMARU ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.

Stretching is one of the exercise interventions widely used in low back pain management in developed nations. It encompasses a heterogeneous group of interventions ranging from general physical fitness or aerobic exercise to muscle strengthening and various types of flexibility. The study assessed the effect of selected exercises among young adults with low back pain in Samaru Zaria, Kaduna State. Twenty-five (25) young male adults met the inclusion criteria for the study. Only one group was used as an experimental and control group. Each participant participated in a structured training programme, 3 sessions a week for eight (8) weeks with each session lasting for a maximum of 60 minutes with rest intervals. Data was collected at baseline, at the 4th and 8th week into the training programme for all participants magnitude of disability was measured using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) of the participants, Physical characteristics measurement of age, weight, height and body mass index were taken before administering exercise training using International Society for Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) protocol. Out of twenty-five (25) participants that started the training programme, only twenty-two (22) participants completed the training measuring and therefore, only their data was analyzed using repeated measure ANOVA. The results showed that the eight (8) weeks training programme had a significant effect on the magnitude of disability (F(2,42) = 42.412, P=0.000) of the participants. The study recommended that stretching exercise should be incorporated in the management of low back pain among Yung Adults with low back pain in Samaru Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria.