The effect of home-based and remote exercises on low back pain during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review (preprint)

Purpose: The prevalence of low back pain (LBP) surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, posing challenges to face-to-face treatment. Therefore, this systematic review aims to determine the effectiveness of various digital solutions for controlling and treatment of LBP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The systematic review was performed from 2019 until 2023 across databases, including Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and PubMed, according to the eligibility criteria. This review fulfilled the following criteria according to the PICO system: population (individuals using virtual exercises at home for LBP), interventions (distance rehabilitation and digital application), comparison (intervention group performing exercises virtually at home, and control group receiving in-person services), outcome (methods used in the diagnosis of LBP). Only high-quality randomized controlled trial studies were included and assessed using the PEDro scale. All the studies were assessed to be of high quality. Results: After the final review, 15 articles with 3789 subjects met the inclusion criteria. Digital tools such as video calls, Artificial Intelligence programs, Virtual Reality Exercises, and video-based programs were commonly used in studies addressing LBP management. The included articles' scores ranged from 6.2 on the PEDro scale, which has a maximum of 10 points. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted heightened attention to digital treatments, yielding relatively acceptable results for patients and therapists. However, recent technological advances indicate future expansion in this field. Key aspects of this method include training individuals in self-management of LBP and promoting adherence. Nonetheless, the high diversity in the use of digital methods poses limitations on conclusive outcomes. Registration: The systematic review has been registered on the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) [CRD42022377172;28/11/2022].

Changing Primary Energy Consumption Due to COVID-19: The Study 20 European Economies

With the outbreak of the coronavirus in countries around the world, governments have decided to impose restrictions and social distancing. Closures of businesses, and hence changes in supply and demand patterns during this period, have deepened concerns among policy makers. In this article, we investigate the change in primary energy consumption in the 20 European countries that have the highest GDP. To this end, 10 different shock scenarios and its limitations are considered. By implementing these shocks into input-output modelling, changes in primary energy consumption are calculated. The results show that according to the best scenario (rapid and complete economy restoration), Russia with 3.5% and Italy with 2.88% will have the largest decrease, and according to the worst case scenario (explosive exacerbation of disease and complete quarantine), Spain with 14% and Italy with 13% will have the largest reduction in energy consumption. In addition, considering the total changes in primary energy consumption of these 20 countries, according to the best scenario, it will decrease by 1.81% and according to the worst-case scenario, it will decrease by 10.46%. We discuss about possibilities that energy consumption permanently declines.