Article

OBJECTIVES: Low back pain (LBP) has previously been associated with impaired
lumbar proprioception, which may lead to and/or perpetuate joint instability as a
cause of LBP. Wearing a lumbar belt (LB) may be beneficial in this regard. The
primary aim was to determine the effect of 2 LB designs (extensible and
non-extensible) on trunk repositioning sense in people with and without LBP.
A secondary aim was to evaluate whether patients showing different clinical signs
of lumbar instability differentially benefit from LBs in terms of lumbar
proprioception. DESIGN: Within-group experimental study with a healthy control
group. METHODS: In total, 38 patients with LBP and 19 healthy controls
participated in this study. Lumbar proprioception (position sense) was measured
with participants sitting in a device that allowed for generating movements in
axial rotation. Three experimental conditions were compared: (1) no LB, (2)
extensible LB, (3) non-extensible LB. Four repositioning errors were computed for
each experimental condition: constant error (CE), absolute error (AE), variable
error (VE) and total variability (E). RESULTS: CE and AE scores were higher for
LBP patients than healthy controls (all P<0.001), but scores did not
significantly differ by condition. Additional subgroup analyses of clinical signs
of instability were inconclusive, showing the same results in LBP patients with
low and high instability scores (all P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms a
significant loss of proprioception in trunk axial rotation in patients with LBP.
Wearing an LB did not improve proprioception, but the contact between the LB and
the skin might depend on the movement direction. Future studies should
investigate the 3 planes of motion while eliminating the effect of the vestibular system.
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Langue : ANGLAIS