Mechatronic Systems Engineering, School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, 250-13450 102nd Avenue, Surrey, British Columbia V3T 0A3, Canada.
Gait Posture. 2011 Jun;34(2):222-6. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2011.05.002. Epub 2011 May 31.
In spite of the importance of stair-climbing (SC) as an activity of daily living, 3D spinal motion during SC has not been investigated in association with low back pain (LBP). The purpose of this research is to investigate the differences of the spinal motions during SC between an LBP group and a healthy control group, in order to provide insight into the LBP effect on the spinal motions. During two types of SC tests (single and double step SCs), we measured 3D angular motions (flexion/extension, lateral bending, and twist) of the pelvis, lumbar spine and thoracic spine using an inertial sensing-based, portable spinal motion measurement system. For the nine motion variables (i.e. three anatomical planes × three segments), range of motions (ROM) and movement patterns were compared to determine the differences between the two groups. It was found that the only variable having the p-value of a t-test lower than 0.05 was the flexion/extension of the lumbar spine in both SCs (i.e. the LBP group's ROM<the control group's ROM). Although the strength of this finding is limited due to the small number of subjects (i.e. 10 subjects for each group) and the small ROM differences between the groups, the comparison result of the t-test along with the motion pattern shows that the effect of LBP during SC may be localized to the lumbar spinal flexion/extension, making it an important measure to be considered in the rehabilitation and treatment of LBP patients.
尽管爬楼梯（SC）作为日常生活活动非常重要，但与下腰痛（LBP）相关的 3D 脊柱运动尚未得到研究。本研究的目的是调查 LBP 组和健康对照组在 SC 期间脊柱运动的差异，以便深入了解 LBP 对脊柱运动的影响。在两种 SC 测试（单步和双步 SC）中，我们使用基于惯性感应的便携式脊柱运动测量系统测量了骨盆、腰椎和胸椎的 3D 角度运动（屈伸、侧屈和扭转）。对于九个运动变量（即三个解剖平面×三个节段），比较了运动范围（ROM）和运动模式，以确定两组之间的差异。结果发现，仅在两种 SC 中，屈伸运动的腰椎（即 LBP 组的 ROM<对照组的 ROM）具有 t 检验 p 值低于 0.05 的变量。尽管由于研究对象数量较少（即每组 10 名受试者）以及两组之间的 ROM 差异较小，因此该发现的强度受到限制，但 t 检验的比较结果以及运动模式表明，在 SC 期间 LBP 的影响可能局限于腰椎的屈伸运动，这使其成为治疗 LBP 患者的康复和治疗中需要考虑的重要措施。
