Classifying subgroups of chronic low back pain patients based on lifting patterns.

Objective: To compare self-reported measures of chronic lower back pain (CLBP) patients who were assigned to 2 subgroups based on their lifting patterns performed during a repetitive lifting task.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Research laboratory

Participants: CLBP subjects (n=81) and pain-free controls (n=53).

The impact of chronic low back pain on older adults: a comparative study of patients and controls.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one of the most common, poorly understood, and potentially disabling chronic pain conditions from which older adults suffer. Many older adults remain quite functional despite CLBP, and because age-related comorbidities often exist independently of pain (e.g.

The relationship between pain, neuropsychological performance, and physical function in community-dwelling older adults with chronic low back pain.

Objective: Chronic pain and cognitive impairment are prevalent and disabling in older adults (OA), but their interrelationship has not been rigorously tested. We did so in OA with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Design: A total of 323 OA (160 pain-free, 163 CLBP; mean age 73.

The use of splines to calculate jerk for a lifting task involving chronic lower back pain patients.

Motion differences in a repetitive lifting task have been described previously using differences in the timing of body angle changes during the lift. These timing changes relied on small differences of motion and are difficult to measure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate shoulder jerk (rate of change of acceleration) in a repetitive lifting task as an alternative parameter to detect differences of motion between controls and chronic lower back pain (CLBP) patients and to measure the impact of a rehabilitation program on jerk.

Body motion during repetitive isodynamic lifting: a comparative study of normal subjects and low-back pain patients.

To quantify performance differences between patients with low-back pain (LBP) and a control group during their performance of a repetitive isodynamic lifting task. Case-control study was done. LBP patients were recruited and tested at an outpatient ambulatory chronic pain rehabilitation program before treatment was begun.

Efficacy of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for the treatment of chronic low back pain in older adults.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of a complementary analgesic modality, percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS), for the treatment of chronic low back pain (CLBP) in community-dwelling older adults.

Design: Randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Setting: University of Pittsburgh Pain Evaluation and Treatment Institute.

Psychosocial predictors of physical performance in disabled individuals with chronic pain.

Objectives: First, to identify what physical performance differences existed between a group of disabled individuals with chronic pain and a control group of pain-free individuals with comparable disabilities; and second, to test a psychosocial model designed to evaluate which psychosocial constructs were predictive of performance in disabled individuals with chronic pain.

Design: Case-comparison study.

Setting: Ambulatory university laboratory.

The influence of weight and starting height on lifting mechanics in lower extremity amputees.

This study compares the lifting mechanics of lower extremity amputees to controls and describes the influence of weight lifted and starting height on lifting style. Subjects included three individuals with transtibial amputation (TTA), two individuals with transfemoral amputation (TFA), and three able-bodied controls (CO). Amputee subjects performed six repetitions of six weights, randomly ordered, from two starting heights.