Trunk Postural Muscle Timing Is Not Compromised In Low Back Pain Patients Clinically Diagnosed With Movement Coordination Impairments.

Abstract

Trunk muscle timing impairment has been associated with nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP), but this finding has not been consistent. This study investigated trunk muscle timing in a subgroup of patients with NSLBP attributed to movement coordination impairment (MCI) and matched asymptomatic controls in response to a rapid arm-raising task. Twenty-one NSLBP subjects and 21 matched controls had arm motion and surface EMG data collected from seven bilateral trunk muscles. Muscle onset and offset relative to deltoid muscle activation and arm motion, duration of muscle burst and abdominal-extensor co-contraction time were derived. Trunk muscle onset and offset latencies, and burst and co-contraction durations were not different (p > .05) between groups. Patterns of trunk muscle activation and deactivation relative to arm motion were not different. Task performance was similar between groups. Trunk muscle timing does not appear to be an underlying impairment in the subgroup of NSLBP with MCI.