Within the umbrella term of 'non-specific low back pain' (NSLBP), studies are being performed to identify subgroups with definable movement impairments or pain.

The inclusion and exclusion criteria are tightly monitored to filter in a specific homogeneous subgroup for the treatment to be applied on.

In this particular study, additional manual therapy to the thoracic spine, pelvis and hips (on top of local manual therapy to the lumbar spine) was shown to have short term benefits for a subgroup of patients with NSLBP.