In a survey of nearly 700 patients with chronic low back or neck pain, only 14.4% were prescribed exercise by their physicians, Janet Freburger, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues reported in the February issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

Physical therapists, on the other hand, were more likely to prescribe exercise to such patients as were chiropractors.

Although studies over the past 10 years have shown that exercise is beneficial for chronic low back and neck pain, Dr. Freburger and colleagues said, "less is known about exercise prescription in routine clinical practice. Who is prescribing it? Who is getting it? What is being prescribed?"

So they conducted a telephone survey, part of a larger study of the prevalence of chronic back and neck pain in North Carolina, the researchers said.

For this analysis, the researchers studied patients with chronic back or neck pain who completed the exercise section of the survey and who in the previous year had consulted a physician, chiropractor, or physical therapist.

All told, the sample included 684 patients, including 574 with chronic back pain and 110 with neck pain.

But only 48% of the patients were prescribed exercise, the researchers found, and -- although most saw a physician -- only about one in every seven said the physician suggested exercise.

In contrast, 63.8% of those who saw a physical therapist and 33.1% of those who saw a chiropractor were prescribed exercise.

In a multivariable analysis, physical therapists and chiropractors were significantly more likely than physicians (P<0.001 for both comparisons) to prescribe exercise.

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