Kinematic Analysis of Gait in a Patient with Nonspecific Low Back Pain

Abstract

Low back pain is one of the most commonly encountered musculoskeletal diseases in modern society, and it is estimated that about 70 to 85% of the population has experienced low back pain. Individuals with low back pain usually modify the pattern of movement during gait to protect themselves, that is, they use different strategies of trunk movement and lower limbs protectively to avoid painful movements. However, in the long term, these repeated and prolonged changes and tensions during gait can cause mechanical dysfunctions, overloading the lumbar vertebral column and consequently causing damage. The objective of this study was to analyze gait kinematics in patients classified in the low back pain subgroups and to identify the possible biomechanical changes of the movement in these individuals. It is a cross-sectional observational study composed of a convenience sample of 17 patients, 24.6 ± 3.0 years old, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina located in the city of Araranguá-SC. Individuals classified in the manipulation subgroup obtained better results in the length of the gait, hip angle in the initial phase of gait and gait speed. The directional preference group obtained a smaller step length and passed. The traction group had the longest running time compared to the other subclassification groups of low back pain. Through the present study, it is possible to affirm that patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain present changes in gait. The individuals classified in the directional preference subgroup were the ones that had the lowest performance in the analyzed variables when compared to the subgroups of traction, manipulation and stabilization.