Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Primorska, Polje 42, SI-6310 Izola, Slovenia.
Andrej Marušič Institute, University of Primorska, Muzejski trg 2, SI-6000 Koper, Slovenia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Dec 28;18(1):161. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18010161.
Spinal exoskeletons have been suggested as an approach for the prevention and rehabilitation of occupational low back pain (LBP). While the state-of-the-art exoskeletons were shown to substantially unload the back, user acceptance is still limited. Perceived discomfort and restriction of freedom of movement are commonly reported. In this pilot study, we explored the differences in subjective responses and user impressions to using passive spinal exoskeleton during a set of simple lifting tasks between LBP patients ( = 12) and asymptomatic individuals ( = 10). Visual analog scales (0-10) were used for all assessments. Overall, the results showed mostly similar responses or slightly more positive responses to the exoskeleton from LBP patients. Most notably, the LBP patients reported a statistically significant ( = 0.048) higher willingness to use the device daily (5.36 ± 4.05) compared to the control group (2.00 ± 1.85) and also gave the device a higher overall grade (6.58 ± 1.98 vs. 4.30 ± 2.26; = 0.021). This study has demonstrated that individuals with current LBP responded more favorably to the use of the spinal exoskeleton for simple lifting tasks. This implies that current exoskeletons could be appropriate for LBP rehabilitation, but not preventions, as pain-free individuals are less willing to use such devices. Future studies should explore whether different exoskeleton designs could be more appropriate for people with no LBP issues.
脊柱外骨骼被认为是预防和康复职业性下腰痛（LBP）的一种方法。尽管最先进的外骨骼已被证明能大大减轻背部的负担，但用户的接受程度仍然有限。人们普遍报告感到不适和限制了行动自由。在这项初步研究中，我们探讨了 LBP 患者（n=12）和无症状个体（n=10）在一系列简单的举升任务中使用被动脊柱外骨骼时主观反应和用户印象的差异。所有评估均采用视觉模拟量表（0-10）。总体而言，结果显示 LBP 患者对该外骨骼的反应大多相似，或稍显更积极。值得注意的是，与对照组（2.00 ± 1.85）相比，LBP 患者表示更愿意每天使用该设备（5.36 ± 4.05），差异具有统计学意义（ = 0.048），且对该设备的总体评分也更高（6.58 ± 1.98 与 4.30 ± 2.26； = 0.021）。这项研究表明，当前患有 LBP 的个体对外骨骼在简单举升任务中的使用反应更为积极。这意味着当前的外骨骼可能适合 LBP 康复，但不适合预防，因为没有疼痛的个体不太愿意使用此类设备。未来的研究应探讨不同的外骨骼设计是否更适合没有 LBP 问题的人。
