Trunk postural control in unstable sitting: Effect of sex and low back pain status

Auteurs

Christian Larivière, IRSSTFollow
Dany H. Gagnon
Hakim Mecheri, IRSSTFollow

Type de document

Études primaires

Année de publication

2015

Langue

Anglais

Titre de la revue

Clinical Biomechanics

Première page

933

Dernière page

939

Résumé

Background

Adequate neuromuscular control of the lumbar spine is required to prevent lumbar injuries. A trunk postural control test protocol, controlling for the influence of body size on performance, was implemented to carry out between-subject comparisons. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of sex and low back pain status with the use of two measures of trunk postural control, the first based on chair motion, and the second based on trunk motion.

Methods

Thirty-six subjects (with and without low back pain) performed three 60-s trunk postural control trials with their eyes closed while seated on an instrumented wobble chair, following a calibration procedure. Chair and trunk angular kinematics were measured with an optoelectronic system. A chair-based stabilogram and a trunk-based (lumbar spine) stabilogram were created using the angular motions produced in the sagittal and frontal planes. Twenty body-sway measures were computed for each stabilogram.

Findings

The calibration task efficiently controlled for the influence of body size. Several sex effects were detected, with most of them originating from the trunk-based measures. Subjects with low back pain and healthy controls showed comparable trunk postural control.

Interpretation

Sex differences were substantiated for the first time, but almost only with the trunk-based stabilogram, showing that the kinematic information captured on the trunk segments is quite different from what is captured on the wobble chair. Contrary to previous studies, pain status was not related to lowered trunk postural control, which can be attributed to the patients recruited or measurement reliability issues.

Mots-clés

Lésion du tronc, Trunk injury, Posture assise, Sitting posture, Affection dorsale, Back disorder, Maux de dos, Backache, Différence liée au sexe, Gender difference, Siège, Seat

Numéro de projet IRSST

0099-8310

Citation recommandée

Larivière, C., Gagnon, D. H. et Mecheri, H. (2015). Trunk postural control in unstable sitting: Effect of sex and low back pain status. Clinical Biomechanics, 30(9), 933-939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2015.07.006