Background: Various treatments have been proposed for chronic low back pain (CLBP), but recent guidelines and reviews recommend regular physical exercise. However, some other studies have reported opposite results that sling exercise (SE) and other exercises (OE) did not differ in improving CLBP.
Objectives: To systematically review and meta-analyze the effects of SE on CLBP in studies published in Korea.
Design: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis.
Methods: Randomized controlled trials comparing SE with OE and modality therapy (MT), published up to June 2020, were identified by electronic searches. Primary outcomes were pain and disability. The weighted mean difference (WMD), stand mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effects model.
Results: Based on the results of the meta-analysis, SE was effective for pain in the comparison of SE and MT [short-term: WMD=-1.64, 95% CI (-3.06, - 0.22); long-term: WMD=-0.34, 95% CI (-0.42, -0.26)]. It was effective for pain in the comparison of SE and OE [short-term: WMD=-1.18, 95% CI (-2.15, - 0.20); long-term: WMD=-0.66, 95% CI (-0.89, -0.43)]. It was also effective for disability in the comparison of SE and MT [short-term: SMD=-15.82, 95% CI (- 23.10, -8.54)]. We found no clinically relevant differences in disability between SE and OE. Heterogeneity was high in the comparison of SE and overall variables.
Conclusion: If SE is applied to physical therapy to improve the main symptoms of CLBP patients, it may contribute to their recovery. More high-quality randomized studies on the topic are warranted.

INTRODUCTION
METHODS
    Literature Search
    Inclusion Criteria
    Selection of Studies
    Data Extraction
    Quality Assessment
    Statistical Analysis
RESULTS
    Literature Search
    Study characteristics
    Methodological Quality of Included Studies
    Comparison of SE and MT for pain
    Comparison of SE and OE for pain
    Comparison of SE and MT for disability
    Comparison of SE and OE for disability
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

• Chibok Park(Department of Physical Therapy, Chunnam Techno University)
• Hojin Jeong(Department of Physical Therapy, Nambu University)
• Byeonggeun Kim(Department of Physical Therapy, Nambu University)