Trunk rotation-related impairments in people with low back pain who participated in 2 different types of leisure activities: a secondary analysis.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional, secondary analysis.

OBJECTIVES

To examine whether there were differences in the numbers and types of impairments on examination between 2 groups of people with low back pain (LBP), those who participated in symmetric leisure activities and those who participated in asymmetric leisure activities.

BACKGROUND

It has been proposed that people who repeatedly perform an activity that involves trunk movements and alignments in the same direction will develop strategies that are generalized to many activities. The repeated use of these strategies is proposed to contribute to impairments identifiable on examination and to LBP.

METHODS AND MEASURES

Forty males and 40 females (mean +/- SD age, 41.4 +/- 13.9 years) with LBP who reported participation in either a symmetric or an asymmetric leisure activity participated in a standardized examination. Responses from 10 trunk-rotation-related impairment tests were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U and chi-square statistics.

RESULTS

Thirty people participated in asymmetric leisure activities and 50 people participated in symmetric leisure activities. The total number of rotation-related impairments was different for the 2 groups (U = 1112, P < .01). The asymmetric group displayed more total rotation-related impairments (median, 4.0; range, 7) than the symmetric group (median, 2.0; range, 6). A greater percentage of the asymmetric group displayed more impairments on 5 out of 10 individual tests, as compared to the symmetric group ( < or = .05 for all comparisons).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide preliminary data to suggest that trunk-rotation-related impairments, identified on examination, may be related to the general type of movements and alignments used repeatedly by patients with LBP.