Associations between pain-related fear and lumbar movement variability during activities of daily living in patients with chronic low back pain and healthy controls.

Low back pain (LBP) is a global issue involving biological, psychological, and social factors. Pain-related fear has been shown to influence movement behavior, however, its association with some measures of movement behavior, such as spinal movement variability, remains inconclusive. To further investigate this, spinal kinematics during various activities of daily living (i.

Conventional video recordings dependably quantify whole-body lifting strategy using the Stoop-Squat-Index: A methods comparison against motion capture and a reliability study.

Whole-body lifting strategies could be derived from conventional video recordings using the Stoop-Squat-Index, which quantifies the ratio between trunk forward lean and lower extremity joint flexion from 0 (full squat) to 100 (full stoop). The purpose of this study was to compare Stoop-Squat-Indices derived from conventional video recordings to those from a three-dimensional marker-based motion capture system and to evaluate interrater and intrarater reliability of the video-based approach. Thirty healthy participants lifted a 5-kg box under different conditions (freestyle, squat, stoop).

Reliability of the active knee joint position sense test and influence of limb dominance and sex.

The output of a sensorimotor performance can be measured with the joint position sense (JPS) test. However, investigations of leg dominance, sex and quality measures on this test are limited. Therefore, these potential influencing factors as well as reliability and consistency measures were evaluated for angular reproduction performance and neuromuscular activity during the active knee JPS test in healthy participants.

Spatial distribution of erector spinae activity is related to task-specific pain-related fear during a repetitive object lifting task.

Fear-avoidance beliefs, particularly the fear of lifting with a flexed spine, are associated with reduced spinal motion during object lifting. Low back pain patients thereby also showed potentially clinically relevant changes in the spatial distribution of back muscle activity, but it remains unknown whether such associations are also present in pain-free individuals. This cross-sectional observational study investigated the relationship between fear-avoidance beliefs and the spatial distribution of lumbar paraspinal muscle activity in pain-free individuals during a repetitive lifting task.

Identifying Motor Control Strategies and Their Role in Low Back Pain: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach Bridging Neurosciences With Movement Biomechanics.

Persistent low back pain (LBP) is a major health issue, and its treatment remains challenging due to a lack of pathophysiological understanding. A better understanding of LBP pathophysiology has been recognized as a research priority, however research on contributing mechanisms to LBP is often limited by siloed research within different disciplines. Novel cross-disciplinary approaches are necessary to fill important knowledge gaps in LBP research.

From Stoop to Squat: A Comprehensive Analysis of Lumbar Loading Among Different Lifting Styles.

Lifting up objects from the floor has been identified as a risk factor for low back pain, whereby a flexed spine during lifting is often associated with producing higher loads in the lumbar spine. Even though recent biomechanical studies challenge these assumptions, conclusive evidence is still lacking. This study therefore aimed at comparing lumbar loads among different lifting styles using a comprehensive state-of-the-art motion capture-driven musculoskeletal modeling approach.

Between-session reliability of skin marker-derived spinal kinematics during functional activities.

Background: Skin marker-based analysis of functional spinal movement is a promising method for quantifying longitudinal effects of treatment interventions in patients with spinal pathologies. However, observed day-to-day changes might not necessarily be due to a treatment intervention, but can result from errors related to soft tissue artifacts, marker placement inaccuracies or biological day-to-day variability.

Research Question: How reliable are skin marker-derived three-dimensional spinal kinematics during functional activities between two separate measurement sessions?

Methods: Twenty healthy adults (11 females/9 males) were invited to a movement analysis laboratory for two visits separated by 7-10 days.

What are the biomechanical consequences of a structural leg length discrepancy on the adolescent spine during walking?

Background: Structural leg length discrepancy (LLD) is a common phenomenon. However, its effect on spinal gait kinematics remains unclear.

Research Question: How does LLD affect spinal gait kinematics in patients with structural LLD and what is the immediate effect of a shoe lift?.

Influence of single and dual tasks on gait stability and gait speed in the elderly : An explorative study.

Background: Gait stability during dual tasks is important for elderly persons, especially for elderly individuals in need of care. A study was conducted to assess gait stability by using Lyapunov exponents (λS) during single task and dual task conditions in independently living elderly people (Go-Goes) and elderly people in need of care (No-Goes).

Material And Methods: This study was conducted with 26 participants (average age 82 ± 9.