Abstract
Background: Chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) poses a major socioeconomic problem, although the mechanisms are not yet clear. Impaired motor control is one of the mechanisms being discussed.Objectives: The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of motor control parameter differences between individuals with and without non-specific LBP during gait.Methods: A literature search on Medline, SportDiscus, PsychInfo, PsychArticels, EMBASE, and Scopus was performed. Twenty-nine articles comparing healthy adults and adults with chronic non-specific LBP in neuromuscular and/or biomechanical parameters during walking or running were examined. Data extraction and quality assessment were independently performed by two persons. Among others, we extracted population, conditions, outcome measures, and results.Results: The results showed that persons with and without non-specific LBP differed in several parameters of motor control, which was indicated by a lower movement amplitude of the pelvis, more in-phase coordination, lower ground reaction forces, higher stride-to-stride variability and a higher activity in ES in the LBP group.Conclusion: Despite no strong evidence for any of the parameters, a combination of biomechanical and neuromuscular parameters provides a conclusive explanation. Impaired motor control during walking is reflected in higher activity of the erector spinae, which leads to a stiffened lumbar-pelvic region. Different acquisition and processing of data renders making comparisons difficult, whereby standards for future research are necessary.
Highlights
Chronic low back pain (LBP) causes high costs, whereby it presents a socioeconomic burden (Dagenais et al, 2008)
These articles were screened by title and abstract according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and regarding the content of walking/running
We found seven out of 13 studies (Selles et al, 2001; Lamoth et al, 2002, 2006a,b; Lee et al, 2007; van den Hoorn et al, 2012; Müller et al, 2015) reporting a lower walking speed in LBP group compared to the control group
Summary
Chronic low back pain (LBP) causes high costs, whereby it presents a socioeconomic burden (Dagenais et al, 2008). For about 85% of back pain, no specific cause of pain—like structural changes or inflammation—can be identified. This is why it is referred to as non-specific back pain (O’Sullivan, 2005). Higher muscle activity results in slower movements and a reduced range of motion (van Dieën et al, 2003). Chronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) poses a major socioeconomic problem, the mechanisms are not yet clear. Impaired motor control is one of the mechanisms being discussed
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