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Low back pain impacts relative motion between pelvis, trunk during walking, running
Seay JF, et al. Spine. 2011. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182015f7c.
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Patients with low back pain or a history of low back pain display a reduction in relative motion between the pelvis and trunk even if their disability levels are low, according to the results of this study.
To determine the differences in coordination during walking and running between patients with low back pain (LBP), those with resolved LBP and those with no history of LBP, the researchers had their study group walk and run on a treadmill at speeds including 0.8 m/s to 3.8 m/s at 0.5 m/s increments. During the final 20 seconds of each stage, the researchers collected pelvis and trunk kinematic data.
“Coordination analysis quantified the portion of gait cycle each group spent in trunk only motion, pelvis-only motion, in-phase, and antiphase relationships,” the authors wrote.
According to the study results, those patients with LBP were in-phase in the frontal plane for more of their gait cycle. While running, LBP patients displayed greater pelvis axial rotation than the control group — and were in-phase in the transverse plane for more of their gait cycle. The LBP and resolved LBP groups also demonstrated reduced antiphase coordination when compared with the group that had no reported incidence of LBP.