Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Low bak pain'

This thesis was initiated by an awareness of the impact of low back pain in Western society in general and Australian society in particular. The studies and experiments in this thesis contribute towards an understanding of chiropractic as a professional entity in Victoria and the nature of its clinical practice. The issue of male adolescent LBP has been explored and in addition to an epidemiological description of this clinical entity, its anthropometric dimensions have been documented. The qualitative review of the literature provides ample justification for the management of patients with LBP by chiropractors, using manual or manipulative techniques. The observational study of the Victorian context in which chiropractors are educated, registered, and entitled to practice, demonstrates that Victorian chiropractors are appropriate providers of manipulative health care. They perform the role of primary contact, primary health care providers with diagnostic, treatment and management skills focussed mainly on musculoskeletal conditions, but with a small proportion of practice based in the health or preventive context, and are well placed to provide the manual and manipulative services required in the management of LBP patients. The profession is shown to have strategies in place to ensure continued legal and community acceptance. The strategies include those at entry level to the profession, such as the legislative provisions of government and the competencies required for registration as instilled during the professional education process, and those which are more of the nature to maintain the integrity of professional practice, such as the " standards of practice" concept. These are important characteristics given it is shown that the Victorian chiropractic profession is not homogenous with respect to educational standards, has a disparate gender balance, the presence of a few non-registered 'chiropractors', and a disparity in utilisation patterns with a significant tail to the right. However the chiropractic profession is shown to hold a position of strength and leadership in the Australian context with respect to the provision of manipulative health care. Indeed, it could be said that chiropractors are at the leading edge of the quality process with respect to the provision of manipulative health care in Australia. The description of chiropractic practice shows a patient base of all ages, including adolescents, presenting with a range of possible diagnoses, often funded by a third party, and with a high proportion of return visits suggestive of patient compliance and satisfaction. It is convincingly demonstrated that persons with work-related LBP attend to chiropractors in Victoria and are effectively managed with the aim being the restoration of optimal spinal function and, in the case of work-injured patients, an early return to work. This thesis includes utilisation data which suggest only a minority of Victorian chiropractors practice outside the responsible parameters described above. The case-mix data and patient profiles presented in this thesis are congruent and complement each other, suggesting a high level of patient satisfaction indicated by the high proportion of return visits by regular patients and a faster, return-to-work by work-injured claimants. The point and sample prevalence of LBP in a population of suburban male adolescents is described and shown to be similar to those found in comparable Western societies. The data for a sample of traditional Australian male adolescents describes the LBP experience for the first time in such a population and emphasises the wide variance between societies which is now being identified in the literature. The LBP experience of a typical suburban Australian male adolescent is identified and described in terms of chronicity, frequency and episode duration. Typically the male adolescent with LBP has a chronic (> 90 d) problem with frequent episodes of pain (from 2 or 3 times a month to 2 or 3 times week) which last a few hours. The pain is a little limiting but allows the performance of the Activities of Daily Living. While some limitation of general sporting activity due to pain is experienced, school attendance is generally not compromised. A particular clinical instrument, the Metrecom computerised electro-goniometer, is studied and found to be appropriate for use in gathering anthropometric dimensions to test hypotheses relating to an association between anthropometric dimensions and LBP in a male adolescent population. The applied level of uncertainty of the instrument is within acceptable limits for these dimensions. The anthropometric study tests the broad null hypothesis that the mean of specific anthropometric dimensions would be equal among samples of male adolescents drawn from the Australian population. The actual groups are a Melbourne 'Pain' group, a Melbourne 'No Pain' group, and a 'Traditional No Pain' group. The pain group reported either current LBP or a positive history of LBP, while the 'no pain' groups denied either current or historical LBP. The alternate hypothesis will be shown to be proven for the dimensions 'sitting height', 'upper body' length, 'pelvic height', and the ratio of the 'upper:lower' body segment in a population of male adolescents with idiopathic or mechanical LBP. This thesis meets its objectives of describing the chiropractic profession and its practise in the Victorian context, demonstrates the prevalence of LBP in a male adolescent population, and identifies particular anthropometric dimensions associated with those who report a LBP experience. The fact that a number of anthropometric dimensions are detectable in adolescence may allow the development of appropriate screening programs which in turn may lead to the design and introduction of suitable prophylactic interventional programs for persons found to be potentially prone to idiopathic or mechanical LBP, at the least reducing the severity and at most reducing the onset of this expensive problem in adulthood. The ratio of the upper body segment to the lower body segment would appear to be most appropriate indicator; it is robust in that it is a prime dimension, easily accessible, and with a low level of measurement uncertainty. Most importantly it would appear to hold validity throughout adolescence as it does not have a linear relationship with age.

The cause of low back pain in populations of professional drivers is uncertain. A literature review revealed factors that seem to be associated with low back pain (e.g. physical factors: exposure to whole body-vibration, prolonged sitting posture, frequent lifting, pushing and pulling, lack of physical fitness; psychosocial factors: job satisfaction or stress; individual factors: age, gender, anthropometrics, tobacco, alcohol consumption, etc.). This thesis investigates the occurrence of back pain in professional car drivers – a group found to be not focussed upon in previous epidemiological studies. The thesis seeks to advance understanding of response relationships between risk factors and low back pain in populations of car drivers (209 taxi drivers and 365 police drivers) and 485 non-drivers. A longitudinal study with cross-sectional baseline combined with field measurement of driving in selected vehicles was performed to investigate the occurrence of musculoskeletal problems (mainly low back pain) and the relationship between risk factors and low back pain experienced for at least one day during the past 12 months in the two populations of professional drivers (taxi drivers and police drivers) and professional non-drivers. The cross-sectional baseline of the longitudinal study revealed that 45% (38.3-51.7%) of taxi drivers, 53% (48-58.6%)of police drivers and 46% (41-50.1%) of police non-drivers reported low back pain for at least one day during the past 12-months (p = 0.09). The prevalence of low back pain in the non-driving population of police employees fell within prevalence range reported by professional car drivers in this study and in previous epidemiological studies. The cross-sectional study revealed risk factors associated with the prevalence of low back pain (i.e., stature, previous physical demands, increased psychosomatic distress, daily and cumulative driving in taxi drivers; age, lifting, bending, increase psychosomatic distress in police drivers; stature, bending, increased psychosomatic distress in police non-drivers). Measurements of whole-body vibration in selected taxi and police vehicles revealed frequencyweighted accelerations in the dominant vibration direction (i.e., z-axis) to be 0.47 ms-2 r.m.s. in taxi vehicles and 0.58 ms-2 r.m.s. in police vehicles. A study of cumulative exposure to whole-body vibration in a group of taxi drivers pointed to a possible overestimation of their self-estimated duration of vibration exposure by 31% on average. The longitudinal study revealed a lower incidence of low back pain in taxi drivers than in both police drivers and police non-drivers (p = 0.02). The difference might be attributed to a different approach to low back pain in taxi drivers who lose income if unable to work. An alternative explanation for increased low back pain among police employees could be that taxi drivers with low back pain leave their profession and were excluded from the follow-up study – a healthy worker effect. The longitudinal study revealed that increased psychosomatic distress was a risk factor associated with the development of new episodes of low back pain in all three of the studied populations (i.e. taxi drivers and police drivers and non-drivers). In police drivers, increased daily duration of driving was a risk factor for the development of low back pain. Although the results point to increased incidence of low back pain with increasing duration of daily driving, non-drivers were at a similar risk of developing of low back pain. Plausible explanations for this finding include ergonomic factors that were present for both the drivers and the non-drivers (e.g., the duration of sitting or duration in a constrained posture) and the presence of other risk factors not investigated in the study but associated with increased incidence of low back pain in non-drivers.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) causes ongoing pain, disability and psychological suffering, at a huge personal and socio-economic cost. CLBP is a heterogeneous condition and its mechanisms are poorly understood. Characterisation and classification of low back pain (LBP) is controversial, there is disagreement on the characterisation and diagnosis of neuropathic low back pain (NuLBP) in relation to mechanical LBP (MLBP). Diagnostic uncertainty is coupled with poor clinical outcomes for treatment. There is therefore an urgent need to develop more effective assessment strategies to identify and better differentiate NuLBP from MLBP in order to facilitate a better understanding of underlying mechanisms and more successful treatments. The primary aim of this study was to establish clinical profiles of CLBP, in particular, differences between MLBP and NuLBP using Questionnairebased behavioural evaluation and sensory testing, structural neuroimaging (voxel based morphometry) and functional neuroimaging (arterial spin labelling). Significant differences were identified between CLBP patients and healthy controls and between NuLBP and MLBP patients in multiple behavioural domains measuring pain, function and psychological well-being. Significant differences were demonstrated in CLBP patients compared to controls in both tactile threshold discrimination and two-point discrimination and between NuLBP and MLBP in tactile threshold discrimination. Functional and structural neuroimaging showed significant differences between all groups in widespread brain regions involved in the evaluation of decision making and planning, mood and emotion, modulation of pain and representation of body schema. This study has demonstrated the ability to characterise CLBP using a battery of behavioural, examination and functional and structural neuroimaging methodologies and has been able to differentiate between CLBP patients and controls and importantly, between NuLBP and MLBP patients. This work demonstrates the impact of CLBP across sensory-discriminative, affectivemotivational and cognitive-evaluative dimensions of the pain experience and shows the increased impact and burden on those who suffer with NuLBP compared to MLBP.

PhD
Abstract Low back pain is a significant public health problem in many countries of the world being one of the major causes of work absence and disability. Although the outlook for evidence-based management of low back pain has greatly improved over the past decades, many questions remain. Questions related to treatment options, underlying mechanisms of treatment effects and optimal assessment of low back pain have yet to be fully addressed by researchers. The broad aim of this thesis therefore was to contribute to a better understanding of the contemporary management of low back pain by performing studies in these key research areas. Most clinical practice guidelines recommend exercise as an effective treatment option for chronic low back pain. However the evidence for this recommendation comes from trials that are not placebo-controlled and so this may potentially provide biased estimates of the effects of exercise. Therefore a randomised controlled trial testing the effect of motor control exercise versus placebo in patients with chronic low back pain was conducted. Chapters 2 and 3 describe the trial protocol and the report of the trial respectively. A total of 154 patients with chronic low back pain were randomised to receive a motor control exercise program, or placebo (i.e. detuned short-wave therapy and detuned ultrasound therapy). Primary outcomes were pain, function, and the patient’s global impression of recovery measured at 2 months. The exercise intervention improved function and patient’s global impression of recovery, but not pain, at 2 months. The mean effect of exercise on function was 1.1 points (95%CI, 0.3 to 1.8), the mean effect on global impression of recovery was 1.5 points (95%CI, 0.4 to 2.5) and the mean effect on pain was 0.9 points (95%CI, - 0.01 to 1.8), all measured on 11 point scales. Secondary outcomes also favoured motor control exercise. This is the first study ever to demonstrate that motor control exercise is better than placebo for patients with chronic low back pain. Most of the treatment effects were maintained at 6 and 12 months follow-up. These results suggest that this intervention should be considered for patients with chronic low back pain in order to improve disability, function, and global impression of recovery, and to improve pain intensity in the long term, but not in the short term. Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI) has been increasingly used by physiotherapists in order to identify impairments in motor control as well as to monitor progress of patients with low back pain. As with any other clinical measure it is important to know how reproducible the RUSI measures are, and although there are some reproducibility studies in the literature, no systematic review on this topic has been conducted. Therefore a systematic review was performed with the objective of assessing the reproducibility studies of RUSI for abdominal wall muscles (Chapter 4). Eligible studies were indentified via searches in CINAHL, EMBASE and MEDLINE with citation tracking via the Web of Science Index. A total of 21 studies were included. Due to heterogeneity of the studies’ designs, pooling the data for a meta-analysis was not possible. RUSI measures of thickness of abdominal wall muscles were found to be reliable. Few studies analysed the reliability for the measurement of thickness changes (reflecting the muscle activity) finding good to poor results. Evidence for the reproducibility of the difference in thickness changes over time (necessary to evaluate improvements in muscle activity with treatment) was not available. A limitation of the existing literature is that studies typically had suboptimal designs and analysis. The current evidence for the reproducibility of RUSI for measuring abdominal muscle activity is mainly based upon studies with suboptimal designs that included mostly healthy subjects, making generalisability to clinical settings uncertain. Some questions about the reproducibility of RUSI measures of abdominal wall muscles are still unanswered; this is mainly due to design issues, such as inadequate statistics, inadequate sampling and lack of control of sources of bias (e.g. blinding and absence of controlling for ordering effects). In addition the clinically important questions about the reproducibility of thickness changes (reflecting the muscle activity) and differences in thickness changes over time (reflecting the improvement or deterioration of muscle activity) have not been adequately investigated. Therefore a reproducibility study that aimed to answer these questions was performed (Chapter 5). Thirty-five patients seeking care for chronic low back pain participated in this study. RUSI measures were taken at baseline and eight weeks post-baseline. Replicate measures of thickness, thickness changes and differences in thickness changes over time were analysed. The reproducibility of static images (thickness) was excellent (ICC2,1 = 0.97, 95%CI = 0.96-0.97, Standard Error of the Measurement (SEM) = 0.04cm, Smallest Detectable Change (SDC) = 0.11cm), the reproducibility of thickness changes was moderate (ICC2,1 = 0.72, 95%CI 0.65-0.76 SEM = 15%, SDC 41%), while the reproducibility of differences in thickness changes over time was poor. Improvements in the test protocol should be undertaken in order to enhance the reproducibility of RUSI measures, especially for differences in thickness chang over time. Self-report outcome measures (questionnaires) are widely used by health care providers for measuring patient’s health status or treatment outcomes. Most of the questionnaires related to low back pain were developed in English and therefore their usefulness in non-English speaking countries is considerably limited. Cross-cultural adaptation and clinimetric testing are possibly the most efficient methods for solving this problem. Although there are many publications on the topic, a simple guide on how to perform a cross-cultural adaptation and clinimetric testing was not available. Therefore a “clinician-friendly” narrative review for Brazilian physical therapists (Chapter 6) was written. This review aimed firstly to explain the concepts and the relevance of cross-cultural adaptation and clinimetrics testing, secondly to summarise the current guidelines on the topic, thirdly to provide advice on how to choose a relevant questionnaire and finally how to evaluate the quality of an adapted questionnaire. Some examples of cross-cultural adaptations and clinimetrics testing of relevant low back pain questionnaires in the Brazilian-Portuguese language were also provided. Although the number of international versions of low back questionnaires is growing, to date it is unclear which questionnaires have been cross-culturally adapted and into which specific language. To answer these questions a systematic review was conducted in order to describe the available cross-cultural adaptations of low back pain self-report outcome measures and the clinimetric testing that has occurred for each adaptation (Chapter 7). Searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINALH and LILACS; these searches were supplemented with information from experts in the field of low back pain from 27 different countries to ensure that the results were comprehensive. Sixty-one adaptations were identified. While there are a large number of low back pain questionnaires available, very few have been adapted into other languages, particularly commonly spoken languages such as Mandarin, Hindi and Portuguese. The quality and comprehensiveness of clinimetric testing varied considerably, with the evaluation of reliability and construct validity most common. Further cross-cultural adaptation and clinimetric studies are clearly needed and special consideration must be given to study designs for clinimetric testing. The final aim of this thesis was to cross-culturally adapt self-report instruments relevant to the management of low back pain in Brazil. This was achieved by two independent studies. The first study (Chapter 8) aimed to cross-culturally adapt the Functional Rating Index (FRI) into Brazilian-Portuguese and to test the clinimetric properties of the FRI and also of an existing Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) which was not fully evaluated in the original study. Both instruments were tested for internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, ceiling and floor effects and internal responsiveness in 140 chronic low back patients presenting for physiotherapy treatment in Brazil. Both instruments were considered reliable and valid for the measurement of disability in Brazilian-Portuguese speakers with low back pain, no ceiling or floor effects were detected, but the internal responsiveness of both instruments was considered small. The second study (Chapter 9) aimed to cross-culturally adapt the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) and to perform a head-to-head comparison of the clinimetric properties of the PSFS, RMDQ and FRI. All instruments were tested for internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, ceiling and floor effects, internal and external responsiveness in 99 acute low back patients presenting for physiotherapy treatment in Brazil. In order to fully test the construct validity and external responsiveness, it was necessary to cross-culturally adapt the Pain Numerical Rating Scale and the Global Perceived Effect Scale. The results of this study demonstrate that the Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the RMDQ, FRI and PSFS have similar clinimetric properties to each other and to the original English versions; however the PSFS was the most responsive instrument. The results from the studies in Chapters 8 and 9 will benefit the understanding of low back pain by enabling international comparisons between studies conducted in Brazil and English speaking countries. In addition it will encourage researchers to include Brazilian- Portuguese speakers in their future clinical trials. Overall, the studies included in this thesis have provided an important contribution to the contemporary management of low back pain. Firstly the use of motor control exercise could be considered for patients with chronic low back pain as it produces improvements in global impression of recovery, function, disability and pain. Secondly RUSI measures of abdominal wall muscles in patients with low back pain were considered reproducible for the measurement of muscle activity, but not as an outcome measure to detect improvement/deterioration of muscle activity over the course of treatment. Thirdly just a few high-quality cross-cultural adaptations and clinimetrics testing for self-report outcome measures relevant to the management of low back pain are available, and clearly more studies in this area are needed. Finally the Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the Functional Rating Index, the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire and the Patient-Specific Functional Scale have acceptable clinimetric properties and could be used in clinical practice as well as in research studies in Brazil.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2009.
Title from title screen (viewed Aug. 11, 2009) Includes tables and questionnaires. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Acute low back pain is a commonly occurring symptom that can impact considerably upon a person's life. It is poorly defined, difficult to classify and challenging to measure. However, due to the high prevalence rates of the symptom, cited in the epidemiological literature, and the costs incurred by individuals, health services and society in general, it is vital that clients are encouraged to take more responsibility for their health. This thesis is concerned with perceptions of control in people with acute low back pain. It is about how they respond to this symptom and the way it impacts upon their lives. The underpinning literature is drawn from both medical and social science research, as the work crosses faculty boundaries. Problems are addressed from a physiotherapeutic and social science perspective, as links are formed between the different disciplines. From this literature, a significant theoretical development was the creation of a framework, which enabled the systematic review of existing outcome measures. A number of instruments, relevant to clients with acute low back pain, were reviewed using this framework, for the dimensions of control, function, pain and anxiety. The findings were used to inform the selection of outcome measures in this research. Four studies were then undertaken, all linked to studying clients with acute low back pain. The first study was a survey of general practitioners in Southampton and the New Forest, which identified their strategies for managing clients with acute low back pain. The second study focused on clients' experiences and was a randomized controlled trial, which tested the effectiveness of an information leaflet, designed to encourage clients to take more responsibility for their own health. The third study primarily focused on clients' perceptions of control over time, addressing the question of how these perceptions change during a one-year period. Finally, since recruitment of clients by their doctors was problematic throughout this research, a follow-up survey was undertaken with these health professionals to establish the reasons for this. The results of these studies are used to discuss the importance of clients' perceptions of control and the implications for clinical practice.

This study used a qualitative method to focus on the perspectives, beliefs and expectations of low back pain sufferers. The research was undertaken within a hospital based pain clinic. In recent years low back pain research has proliferated, and the epidemiological evidence suggests that back pain is an increasing problem. Much attention has been paid to the impact of low back pain on the population, and to the increasing cost in economic and health terms. Biomedical and psychological evidence abounds to shape acute and chronic management of low back pain, but there is a dearth of information about the viewpoint of those suffering pain. This study attempted to bring the understanding of the back pain sufferer to the fore. Issues of quality of life, functional ability and the impact of back pain on their lifestyle were explored, along with the influence of contextual factors in relation to how back pain sufferers perceived themselves and how others perceived them. A narrative method was utilized to illuminate the journey with pain. Nine interviews were conducted, and the interpretation and presentation of the narratives generated was influenced by Ricoeur’s interpretative theory. Thematic analysis revealed that doctorability, agency, control, separation or acceptance of the pain and the concept of future life were key features within the narratives. The analysis highlighted that for the majority in this study pain arrived uninvited following a traumatic accident or incident, and back pain became a chronic condition. It was always unwanted and initially it was unexpected as the usual script for pain is one of a transient incapacity followed by recovery. It was precisely this deviation from the norm that resulted in difficulties for the people suffering the pain. Biographical differences did not appear to be identifiable in the themes discerned in the stories, nor in the overall structure.

Background Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a common health problem, with a large potential for primary prevention. Health utilities (HU) reflect which proportion of their expected remaining life time individuals would hypothetically trade to be alleviated of a health condition of interest. A value of 0 means “prefer to die immediately”, a value of 1 means “not willing to trade any life time”. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess HU for LBP patients and for healthy participants and to examine whether HU for LBP are useful indicators to substantiate preventive and therapeutic decision making. Methods Healthy participants (n = 126) and LBP patients (n = 32) were recruited mainly among the employees of a tertiary care hospital in Germany. Standardized LBP scenarios were presented to all participants and HU values were assessed using the time-trade-off method. Results Median HU for LBP were 0.90 (IQR 0.31) for participants and 0.93 (IQR 0.10) for LBP patients. Measurements were consistent across illness severity ratings with HU and with a visual analogue scale (VAS); in the healthy sample the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.61 (95% CI 0.23–1.00, F(1125) = 190, p < .001), in the patient sample the ICC was 0.66 (95% CI = 0.24–1.00, F(1,31) = 62, p < .001). 8% of participants reported HU of 1. There was no statistically significant relation between HU and age, income, or gender. Conclusion On average, participants chose a 7 to 10% shorter life expectancy to avoid LBP, but almost 1 in 10 participants were not willing to trade any life years. The results indicate a certain stability of HU due to the comparability of HU ratings across patients and healthy participants, the measurement consistency when comparing VAS and HU ratings, and the lack of association between demographic variables and HU. This underlines the usefulness of HU for measuring illness severity in comparative health economics evaluations of preventive and therapeutic measures that address chronic LBP or other pain-characterized diseases. Future studies should focus on different LBP intensities and derive stratified HU that reflect the distribution of pain intensity in the population.

This thesis investigates position awareness of the low back, measured using an electrogoniometer, in participants with and without recurrent non-specific low back pain (NSLBP). The ability to appreciate body position and movement makes an essential contribution to control of posture and functional movement. Pain may impair this awareness and initiate or exacerbate joint damage. Impairment of position awareness in the low back has been reported in patients with chronic low back pain. In addition, work-related activities may impair positional awareness, particularly in people experiencing LBP. The accuracy, stability and through range test-retest reliability of the electrogoniometer was assessed. It was found to be a reliable measure of degrees during movement in the sagittal plane between 0 to +/- 60 degrees, when compared to measurements using a calibrated, highly accurate, bevel protractor (mean error differences below 0.5 degrees for all tests). Low back position awareness was measured before and after a shift of work, in sitting and standing, in 61 people with recurrent NSLBP and 40 without a history of LBP. In addition, secondary analysis investigated the effect of occupation (manual workers, sedentary workers, drivers) on position sense. Low back position awareness was also measured in 50 people with recurrent NSLBP and 50 without a history of LBP during mid-range of sagittal plane movement of the low back in sitting; and when trying to return to a "good" sitting posture. There were no differences between participants with and without recurrent NSLBP in repositioning accuracy of the low back during any of the studies. When investigating the effect of occupation however, only sedentary workers achieved the power required for analysis. People with LBP positioned their "good" sitting posture significantly closer to end-range of low back extension, than people without LBP (12.47 SD8.46, v’s 16.51 SD9.41 degrees respectively; P=0.026). Recurrent NSLBP and sedentary work-related activities did not affect accuracy of position awareness in the low back. In people with recurrent NSLBP however, the position of their "good" sitting posture closer to end-range low back extension could lead to greater compressive loading of pain-sensitive spinal tissue, as well as increases in facet joint forces and shear forces on discs. These mechanisms may be aetiologic in the recurrence and maintenance of LBP. This finding may have implications for clinical practice, with consideration perhaps given to assessing the position of "good" sitting posture and its relationship to end-range in patients with LBP. Future research should investigate this further in larger populations of people with and without LBP, including specific sub-groups of LBP.

The thesis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of AT for LBP. A systematic review was conducted to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture. There is strong evidence that acupuncture can be a useful supplement to other forms of conventional therapy for non-specific LBP although the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with other forms of control intervention still requires further investigation.

Introduction: Lifetime prevalence of low back pain in the adult population has been estimated to be over 60% and the costs to society are huge. It has been calculated that the direct health care costs of the condition approach £2billion per annum in the UK alone, and further costs are associated with informal care and with lost productivity in the workplace. Prevalence of the condition increases with age from approximately 30% at age 25yrs and studies have shown that, in adults, the greatest predictor of low back pain is a previous history of similar symptoms. It is important, therefore, to examine the aetiology of low back pain in youth. In childhood low back pain is also reasonably common and some authors have published prevalence estimates approaching those in adults. A number of factors have been associated with the occurrence of low back pain in childhood and/or adolescence: physical factors, such as height and weight; mechanical factors, such as the carriage of heavy schoolbags; lifestyle factors, such as sports participation; psychosocial and psychological factors, such as behavioural conditions and a negative affect score; and familial factors, such as the presence of parental pain. However, the majority of published research in this field has been cross-sectional in nature and, therefore, cannot distinguish between cause and effect. To investigate the aetiology of low back pain it is clear that longitudinal studies that examine the onset of the condition are required. Aims: To identify the risk factors for the onset of low back pain in adolescents. Study Design: Population-based prospective cohort study. Methodology: Two cross-sectional surveys were carried out twelve months apart. At baseline, 1040 children aged 11-14yrs, from thirty-nine schools in the Northwest of England, were identified as being free of low back pain. In these children, average daily mechanical load was assessed using schoolbag weight, recorded over a five day period. Using a self-completion questionnaire, exposure to a number of other potential risk factors was assessed: lifestyle factors, psychosocial factors, and the occurrence of other common childhood (somatic) pain complaints. These children were then followed up twelve months subsequently to establish episodes of new onset low back pain. In addition, using a postal questionnaire, information was obtained from parents of the subjects regarding the occurrence of parental pain, and also, in girls, menstrual status. Results: 935 children (89.4%) participated at follow-up, of whom 168 (18.6%) reported low back pain - by definition, new onset low back pain. The occurrence of new onset low back pain increased with age and was more common in girls than boys but was unrelated to menstruation. The onset of low back pain was associated with neither average daily mechanical load, nor mechanical load relative to body weight. In general, lifestyle factors were not predictive of future pain, although sporting activity was significantly, but non-linearly, associated with an increased risk of pain. In contrast, adverse psychosocial factors were consistently and strongly associated with an increased risk of future pain; this was true for conduct problems in particular. Furthermore, the baseline occurrence of headache, abdominal pain and sore throats was associated with an increased risk of low back pain at follow-up. Children whose parents reported pain were no more likely to report low back pain (or indeed, any pain) than other children. Conclusions: This study has provided no evidence that mechanical factors are associated with an increased risk of future low back pain. Adverse psychosocial behaviour, and conduct problems in particular, are associated with an increased risk of new onset low back pain. In addition, the prior occurrence of other common pain conditions was strongly associated with an increased risk of future pain. Thus, this study concludes that low back pain in childhood may be a manifestation of somatisation.

This thesis presents a set of studies which investigated chronic low back pain. The specific aim of this thesis was to develop reliable methods for the assessment and rehabilitation of chronic low back pain. The two assessment methods tested were a broad based clinical evaluation and an isokinetic assessment of trunk muscle strength. The first part of the thesis describes the reliability and validity studies of the clinical methods for measuring trunk mobility, trunk muscle strength, spinal shape and palpation. A total of 27 physical tests were studied using 70 patients and 10 normal subjects. Twenty-three of these tests were found to be reliable and were incorporated into the isokinetic assessment study. The second part of the study reports the standardisation and reliability studies for the isokinetic assessment of trunk muscle strength in 70 normal subjects and 120 patients with chronic low back pain. The results showed that the main isokinetic measures were reliable for both normal subjects and patients. There was a significant learning effect from test 1 to test 2 in both normal subjects and patients. The magnitude of this learning effect was greater in patients than normal subjects. The normal subjects were followed up by a postal questionnaire in a two year prospective study to predict future back pain using the isokinetic measures. None of the measures used showed any significant differences between those subjects who developed back pain and those who did not. The third part of the thesis describes studies to develop a rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic low back pain using the isokinetic machines, both as a means of monitoring progress and as an exercise regime. The first study of 26 patients indicated that the programme was safe and effective, but also revealed a major problem with adherence to a six week exercise programme. The second study investigated the problem of adherence and examined the time course of response to isokinetic exercise by repeating the tests at three weeks and six weeks.

Low back pain is a debilitating condition that afflicts millions of people each year. It is characterized by complex biochemical, morphological, and biomechanical changes. However, most believe low back pain arises due to abnormal mechanical loading, inflammation, and disc degeneration. Several studies have investigated radial back pain, but to date, there is only one in vivo animal model for low back pain. Despite advances in science, the causes of low back pain remain unclear and treatments fail to relieve the pain. To better understand the causative factors of low back pain, a reliable animal model is needed. This study was designed to advance the knowledge of the previous in vivo animal model for low back pain by investigating the effects of shear loading on disc degeneration (for a longer duration of time) and discogenic low back pain (in terms of immunohistochemistry) in hopes developing better treatment strategies for low back pain sufferers and to help elucidate the etiology of low back pain. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats (n=31) were shear loaded for 4- and 8- weeks. Pain behavioral testing was done prior to and after surgery. After sacrifice, immunohistochemistry was used to detect the presence of pain in the intervertebral discs and the spinal cord. Results of this study indicate that the application of an abnormal shear load gives rise to disc degeneration. Histology revealed that all loaded levels as well as the adjacent levels degenerated due to the shear load. Pain behavior testing revealed that the rats did experience pain, however, when combined with the immunohistochemical results, we were able to exclude the pain as pain stemming from the degenerated discs. Surprisingly, we observed that shear loading caused scoliosis of the thoracolumbar spine.

Low back pain is a common but severe health problem. Chronic low back pain accounts for the bulk of the burden of low back pain. Exercise interventions are effective in the management of chronic low back pain. Current clinical thinking in physical therapy treats low back pain as a heterogeneous entity seeking to match specific interventions to subpopulations. None of these subgroups assess the role of gluteus medius dysfunction in chronic low back pain. These projects seek to describe the prevalence of gluteus medius weakness in people with chronic low back pain and test the effectiveness of a gluteus medius strengthening exercise intervention in people with chronic low back pain. Gluteus medius strength was assessed in 150 people seeking care for chronic low back pain and 75 healthy people without low back pain. Gluteus medius was found to be weaker on affected sides compared to unaffected sides within people with chronic low back pain and weaker than people without low back pain. Gluteus medius weakness was a strong predictor of the presence of low back pain. A gluteus medius strengthening program was compared with lumbar stabilization exercises in 56 people with chronic low back pain. Although there was a clinically significant improvement in pain in people who performed the gluteus medius strengthening exercise program, this was not significantly different from the stabilization exercise intervention. Adherence to exercise was significantly correlated with reduction in pain and perceived improvement of low back pain. Although gluteus medius weakness is common in people with low back pain and treating this weakness with a targeted exercise intervention is effective, it is not better than a standard stabilization exercise intervention. Doing exercise is likely more important than what exercise is done.

Abstract The etiology of musculoskeletal disorders remains largely unclear, pain being the predominant complaint. The prevalence of neck pain (NP), shoulder pain (SP), and low back pain (LBP) increases drastically during adolescence. Potentially modifiable risk factors of NP, SP, and LBP should be identified at that age. First, this study evaluated the prevalence of NP, SP, LBP and peripheral pains (upper or lower extremities) and the prevalence of multiple pains. Second, the study determined the role of a set of potentially modifiable risk factors for adolescents’ NP, SP, and LBP (physical activity, inactivity, sedentary activities in cross-sectional study design and quantity and quality of sleep in follow-up study design). The study population belongs to the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC 1986), consisting of 9,479 children with an expected date of birth between July 1, 1985 and June 30, 1986 in the two northernmost provinces of Finland, Oulu and Lapland. NP, SP, and LBP were common at the ages 16 and 18, while medical consultations for these pains were less frequent. The prevalence of pain increased with age. Peripheral pains were rare. Surprisingly many adolescents reported multiple musculoskeletal pains. Girls were more likely to report pain than boys. Both low and high level of physical activity, some risk sport activities, high amount of sedentary activities, and insufficient quantity and quality of sleep increased the risk of NP, SP, and LBP in adolescence. It may be possible to reduce the occurrence of musculoskeletal pain by having a positive impact on potentially modifiable risk factors, such as physical activity, sedentary activities and sleep hygiene. Therefore, intervention studies focusing on these factors are needed in the future
Tiivistelmä Useimmiten tuki- ja liikuntaelinsairauksien tarkka syy jää epäselväksi ja kipu on niiden pääasiallinen ilmentymä. Niska-, hartia- ja alaselkäkipujen esiintyvyys väestössä nousee merkittävästi teini-iässä. Tämän vuoksi niska-, hartia- ja alaselkäkivun riskitekijöitä tulisikin tutkia nuoruudessa, jotta niihin päästäisiin vaikuttamaan ajoissa. Tässä väitöskirjassa selvitettiin niska-, hartia-, alaselkä- ja laaja-alaisten tuki- ja liikuntaelinkipujen esiintyvyyttä nuorilla. Päätavoite oli kuitenkin tutkia liikunnan, eri urheilulajien, liikkumattomuuden, istumisen ja unen laadun ja määrän yhteyttä niska-, hartia- ja alaselkäkipujen esiintyvyyteen. Tutkimusaineisto muodostui Pohjois-Suomen syntymäkohortin 1986 nuorista, joiden laskettu syntymäaika oli 1.7.1985–30.6.1986. Nuorille lähetettiin 16-vuotiaana postikysely, joka sisälsi tuki- ja liikuntaelinoirekyselyn, kysymyksiä liikunnan, istumisen ja unen määrästä ja laadusta, sekä muista elämäntavoista. Kahden vuoden kuluttua, 18-vuotiaana lähetettiin toinen kysely joka sisälsi mm. tuki- ja liikuntaelinoirekyselyn. Tulokset osoittavat että niska-, hartia- ja alaselkäkivut olivat yleisiä nuoruudessa, joskin hoitoa vaativat kivut ja raajojen kipuoireilu olivat harvinaisia. Laaja-alaiset tuki- ja liikuntaelinkivut olivat odotettua yleisempiä. Tytöt oireilivat enemmän kuin pojat ja oireilu lisääntyi iän myötä. Hyvin aktiivinen liikunnan harrastaminen (6h/vko tai enemmän ripeää liikuntaa) ja erityisesti tietyt riskilajit olivat yhteydessä suurempaan niska-, hartia- ja alaselkäkipujen esiintyvyyteen. Samoin suuri istumisen määrä, riittämätön uni ja huono unen laatu lisäsivät kipujen todennäköisyyttä. Nuorten tuki- ja liikuntaelinkipuja voitaisiin mahdollisesti vähentää vaikuttamalla muunneltavissa oleviin riskitekijöihin, kuten vähentämällä istumista, lisäämällä terveysliikuntaa, sekä parantamalla unitottumuksia. Tämän takia jatkossa tarvitaan näihin riskitekijöihin kohdistuvia interventiotutkimuksia

Prior studies have reported differences in lower back biomechanics during activities of daily living between individuals with and without chronic low back pain (LBP). Nevertheless, the literature on lower back biomechanics of patients with non-chronic LBP is scant. Therefore, the objective of this study, as the first step towards future prospective studies, was to investigate the lower back biomechanics in patients with non-chronic LBP. Case-control studies were conducted wherein measures of lumbo-pelvic coordination during bending and return tasks as well as measures of mechanical demand on the lower back during lifting tasks in the sagittal plane were investigated between patients with non-chronic LBP and matched asymptomatic individuals. Patients were enrolled into the study at the non-chronic stage of their LBP. We found distinct difference in measures of lumbo-pelvic coordination as well as mechanical demands on the lower back between patients with non-chronic LBP and controls. Reduced lumbar range of flexion and slower task pace as well as the more in-phase and less variable lumbo-pelvic coordination observed in patients with non-chronic low back pain, may be the result of a neuromuscular adaptation to reduce the forces and deformation in the lower back tissues and avoid pain aggravation. Such a neuromuscular adaptation, however, resulted in a larger shearing demand on the lower back. Persistent abnormal lumbo-pelvic coordination might play a role in transition to chronic stage or recurrence of LBP. However, such inferences need to be further investigated using prospective studies as well as clinical trials involving a combination of physical and psychological treatments aimed at correction of lumbo-pelvic coordination.

The prevalence of low back pain has assumed an upsurge trend in the last five decades despite the many interventional strategies. One interventional strategy that has been unsuccessful has been patient education. Lack of positive results from many of the existing patient education programmes is probably due to the type of health information that has been presented and the method that has been used. Many of the health education programmes have been planned according to what the medical professionals assumed the individuals needed to know, assumptions that could have ignored some crucial aspects. This study explored the perceived health education needs of individuals with low back pain at the Nairobi Hospital Rehabilitation Unit in Kenya, the method used to educate the individuals, the appropriateness of the method according to the individuals in addition to identifying the source of the health education that the individuals had.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2007). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health." Discipline: Epidemiology; Department/School: Public Health.

Context: Hundreds of thousands of Quebec residents suffer from chronic pain, for which treatment is far from optimal. Despite low back pain being the second most common reason to visit a primary care physician, management remains challenging. Additionally, chronic low back pain (CLBP) has been found to be the most common reason for patients to be referred to tertiary pain centers. Recently, there has been an increasing acceptance that bio-psycho-social factors play a crucial role the clinical course of CLBP. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups of CLBP patients treated in tertiary care, as defined by their changes in pain and disability over time, and to explore possible characteristics associated with these changes. Specific objectives were: 1) to establish whether there are distinct subgroups of patients with CLBP with different characteristics associated with change in pain and disability at 6, 12, and 24 months following an initial visit in a tertiary pain clinic; and 2) to identify potential social, psychological, biological, and environmental factors that may predict their responses in pain intensity and disability in accordance with the Revised Wilson and Cleary Model for Health-Related Quality of Life. Design: Observational prospective design to follow a cohort of patients who were enrolled in the web-based Quebec Pain Registry. Setting: The Quebec Pain Registry, a research database comprised of close to 5000 chronic pain patients. Eligible participants included all patients who 1) have been diagnosed with lumber without radicular pain, LBP (diagnostic code 3.1), lumbar & radicular pain, LRP (diagnostic code 3.2), or diffuse lumbar pain, DLP (diagnostic code 3.4), 2) who provided written consent for their data to be used for research purposes, and 3) have completed their initial visit to the pain clinic by May 31, 2011. Intervention: The data required for this project had previously been collected and entered in the Quebec Pain Registry. Basic descriptive results were produced using SAS® software 9.2. This analysis described the characteristics of the 917 patients included in the study at baseline. Additional data were explored to examine patterns of changes over two years for certain characteristics. A generalized estimating equations model (GEE) was used to analyze data at 6, 12, and 24 months after the initial visit. Results: 299 (32.6%) patients were diagnosed LBP, 522 (56.9%) with LRP, and 96 (10.4%) with DLP. In general, all patients were relatively comparable in terms of their characteristics with the exception of DLP, where proportions were noticeably different. Patients diagnosed with DLP had a higher pain duration median (6.0 years) and the most frequently current employment status was permanent disability (both in regards to proportions). The most common ethnicity was Caucasian among all diagnoses. Income was similarly distributed among all groups and secondary school was the highest level of education completed for all. The top three medical conditions reported other than CLBP were rheumatoid arthritis/osteoarthritis, hypertension, and depressive disorders. DLP patients reported "accident at work" as the most common circumstance surrounding their onset of pain. DLP also had noticeably different mean scores for average pain, worst pain, depression, catastrophizing, disability, mental and physical summary scores on the health-related quality of life questionnaire at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months (in regards to proportions). Patients with higher worst pain scores, longer pain duration, and lower physical summary scores at the initial visit were significantly less likely to show improvements in pain intensity and disability at six and 12 months. Conclusions: Although modifying the analysis prohibited conclusions for a two-year follow to be made, characteristics, such as worst pain, pain duration, and lower physical summary scores at both six and 12 months were discovered.
Contexte: Des centaines de milliers de résidents du Québec souffrent de douleurs chroniques. En dépit de la douleur au bas du dos étant la deuxième cause la plus fréquente de consulter un médecin de soins primaires. . Récemment, il y a eu une acceptation croissante que les facteurs bio- psychosociale (biologiques, psychologiques et sociaux ) jouent un rôle crucial de l'évolution clinique de la lombalgie chronique , mais peu de recherches concernant la lombalgie chronique ont étés achevé plus d'un an . Objectif: Les objectifs spécifiques sont : 1) d'établir s'il existe des groupes distincts de patients atteints de lombalgie chronique avec des caractéristiques de réponse à 6, 12 et 24 mois après la visite initiale, et 2) pour identifier le potentiel social, psychologique, biologique et environnemental caractéristiques, conformément à la modèle révisée Wilson et Cleary pour la qualité liée à la santé de la vie. Conception: analyse prospective d'une cohorte historique. Cadre: Le Registre québécois de la douleur, une base de données de recherche unique composée de près de 5000 patients souffrant de douleurs chroniques de centres de la douleur tertiaires. Participants: adultes diagnostiqués avec la douleur chronique au bas du dos qui sont inscrits dans le registre de la douleur Québec. Les participants admissibles inclus tous les patients qui ont été diagnostiqués avec le bois sans douleur radiculaire , LBP (code de diagnostic 3.1), lombaire et douleur radiculaire , LRP (code de diagnostic 3.2) , ou une douleur lombaire diffuse , DLP (code de diagnostic 3.4) et ont terminé leur formation initiale visite à la clinique de la douleur avant le 31 mai 2011. Intervention: Les données nécessaires à ce projet avaient déjà été recueillies et consignées sur le registre de la douleur Québec. Résultats descriptives de base ont été produites en utilisant SAS ® 9.2 logiciel. L'analyse descriptive a décrit les 917 patients inclus dans l'échantillon de l'étude au départ, générant des scores moyens. Des données supplémentaires ont été explorées pour observer des modèles sur deux ans pour certaines caractéristiques. Un modèle des équations d'estimation généralisées (GEE) a été utilisé pour analyser des données corrélées à six, 12 et 24 mois. Résultats: 299 (32.6%) patients ont été diagnostiqués LBP, 522 (56.9%) avec LRP, et 96 (10.4%) avec DLP. En général, tous les diagnostics étaient comparables à l'exception de DLP. Les patients diagnostiqués avec DLP avaient une durée médiane de la douleur plus élevé (6,0) et l'invalidité permanente le plus fréquemment rapporté pour le statut actuel de l'emploi. L' ethnie la plus fréquente était de race blanche parmi tous les diagnostics . Le revenu a été distribué similaire dans tous les groupes, et à l'école secondaire était le plus haut niveau de scolarité atteint pour tous. Les trois conditions médicales rapportées étaient la polyarthrite rhumatoïde / arthrose, l'hypertension et les troubles dépressifs. DLP patients ont signalé « accident du travail » comme circonstance la plus courante qui entoure leur apparition de la douleur. DLP a également indiqué sensiblement différents scores moyens pour la douleur moyenne, pire douleur, la dépression, catastrophisme, le handicap, le score résumé mental, et le score résumé physique au départ, 6, 12 et 24 mois. Les patients ayant les plus mauvais scores de la douleur, la durée de la douleur plus élevé, et des scores plus bas sommaires physiques étaient significativement moins susceptibles de montrer des améliorations dans la douleur et le handicap à six et 12 mois. Conclusions: Bien que la modification des conclusions interdites d'analyse pour un suivi de deux ans à faire, des caractéristiques importantes telles que la pire douleur, la durée de la douleur, et les scores sommaires physiques inférieurs aux deux six et 12 mois ont été découverts.

Thesis (M.A.) PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
Recent studies have shown the efficacy and practicality of the integration of complementary and alternative therapies and biomedical treatments for various diseases and illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Saper et al. (2013) demonstrated that once-weekly yoga classes were equally as effective for relieving chronic low back pain in low-income, minority populations than twice-weekly yoga classes. Pain medication data collected from this 12-week study was used to examine the effect of yoga on analgesic use. Pain medications were categorized into four major groups: (1) acetaminophen, (2) opiates, (3) non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), and (4) other. The average number of NSAID pills taken daily decreased from baseline to 12 weeks. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in the average number of any type of analgesic taken between once- and twice-weekly yoga groups from baseline to 12 weeks. Our findings suggest that yoga is most useful for individuals with mild to moderate chronic low back pain; however, further studies with more powerful sample sizes must be conducted in order to make more precise conclusions.
2031-01-01

Musculoskeletal physiotherapy is the most common intervention for chronic low back disorder. Any observation on clinical practice or investigation into the clinical and scientific literature indicates that musculoskeletal physiotherapy encompasses a plethora of treatment modalities and approaches. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the most common intervention(s) that comprise musculoskeletal physiotherapy and to critically explore their empirical therapeutic basis. Two components were highlighted as the most frequently employed interventions; namely manually applied therapy (manual therapy) and exercise(s) to rehabilitate the lumbar spine's stabilising system. In the course of an extensive literature search, work was uncovered that suggested that the mechanisms required for spinal stability could be better facilitated using methods other than those in current clinical use. These discoveries culminated in the creation of a ten-week rehabilitation programme which was primarily developed to facilitate rehabilitation of spinal stabilisation but also permitted an empirical analysis of this component of musculoskeletal physiotherapy. The efficacy of the regime was then assessed in comparison to manual therapy and to a control (an education booklet) in a randomised controlled trial. Following a series of pilot studies, 300 patients with chronic low back disorder were randomly assigned to groups and completed their respective management programmes. Data were collected on pain, disability, handicap, impairment and quality of life prior to entry and at three, six, twelve and twenty-four months post intervention. The results indicated a consistent trend for greater improvement in the spinal stabilisation group in the pain, handicap, impairment, disability, dysfunction and medication variables. These trends reached statistical significance at the three-month follow-up stage as evidenced by quality of life (P = 0.025), at the six-month follow-up stage in pain (P = 0.009) and dysfunction (P = 0.042) and at the one-year follow-up stage in medication (P = 0.007), dysfunction (P = 0.048), disability (P = 0.0098) and quality of life (P = 0.003). It was therefore concluded that the spinal stabilisation programme was a more effective component of musculoskeletal physiotherapy (when analysed in isolation) than manually applied therapy or an education booklet in the management of chronic low back disorder. Various sub-analyses of the data were conducted. Subjects who entered the study with high levels of low back pain (greater than 50 numerical rating scale) demonstrated a statistically Significant reduction in pain levels (P = 0.04) in both the manual therapy group and the spinal stabilisation group in comparison to the education control group at the three-month follow-up stage. These data provide empirical evidence towards the efficacy of these two musculoskeletal physiotherapy management regimes as being effective in pain reduction in comparison to an active control intervention. This has not hitherto been demonstrated on patients with chronic low back disorder.

Low back pain (LBP) is a significant problem among the nursing population worldwide. Manual lifting and shifting of heavy objects and patients are primary contributing factors. Nurses are supposed to be knowledgeable about the risk factors and preventive measures and effectively apply it into practice to prevent them from sustaining back injuries. Strategies to reducing the incidences of LBP in nurses have been previously implemented but with little outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between occupational risk factors and the prevalence of LBP in nurses at MOI, Tanzania. Therefore, the study examined
the prevalence of LBP amongst nurses, work-related risk factors contributing to LBP, knowledge and effectiveness of back care techniques, and barriers to effective back care techniques in clinical nurses.

The management of low back pain (LBP) has long been a challenge as it is a highly prevalent disease worldwide due to the lack of an apparent etiology and a conclusive therapeutic treatment. Heterogeneous groups of LBP patients with diverse medical backgrounds also complicate the problem. A clinical threshold is demanded to match the patients and treatments appropriately in order to maximize the treatment success rate. Besides, the assessments of disability and pain perception due to LBP made by self-evaluated questionnaires in current clinical setting are highly susceptible to subjective feeling and the memory of patients. LBP and spasm are closely related but little is known for the underlying physiology, especially the musculature of LBP patients with spasm. These problems exacerbate the difficulty in LBP rehabilitation further. Surface electromyography (sEMG) topography is a cutting- edge technology to assess the lumbar muscle in vivo non-invasively by illustrating the distribution of global muscle activity visually. sEMG topography has the potential application as an objective assessment tool for LBP rehabilitation. In present study, sEMG topography was used to address 1) the prognostic value of sEMG topography on LBP rehabilitation, 2) the establishment and validation of a clinical classification threshold for identification of LBP patients who are responsive to exercise therapy and 3) the investigation of sEMG topography in accordance with the physiological outcomes (functional disability, pain perception and spasm). Forty-five healthy subjects and fifty patients with chronic non-specific LBP were enrolled to the study. sEMG test was conducted to every subject under the motions of lumbar flexion and extension in order to gather the myoelectric signals by a 16-channel sEMG. Various sEMG topographic parameters (sEMG parameters) were developed for quantitative analysis of sEMG topography. They were Root-Mean-Square-Difference of Relative Area (RMSD RA), Relative Width (RMSD RW) and Relative Height (RMSD RH) at flexion and extension. Results showed that sEMG parameters were of significant prognostic value for LBP patients towards exercise therapy. A clinical threshold of 0.21 was proposed and validated based on the geometric calculation of RMSD RA and RMSD RW at flexion and extension. The threshold was substantiated to increase the success rate of exercise therapy from 46% to 86% when the value measured by sEMG topography was below 0.21. sEMG parameters were found significantly associated with disability and pain perception in a positive manner. Severer disability and pain perception were represented by larger values of sEMG parameters. sEMG topography demonstrated symmetric patterns for patients with or without spasms on bilateral sides of lumbar muscles. The symmetry in sEMG topography evinced the consistency of the musculature of bilateral lumbar muscles while the lost of symmetry might indicate malfunction of lumbar muscles unilaterally. To conclude, this study corroborated versatile roles of sEMG topography in LBP rehabilitation as a prognosis, clinical threshold, and objective measurement. The findings of this study have paved the way of sEMG topography for future application in clinical setting. A study of larger scale would be recommended to complement the present findings.
published_or_final_version
Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Master
Master of Philosophy

This was a mixed method study incorporating a randomized controlled trial (RCf) and focus group interviews to explore the effects of spinal stabilization exercises on sub-clinical chronic low back disorders and participants' perceptions of this type of treatment programme. Eighty four participants (34 males and 50 females) in the RCf were randomly allocated to control (no exercise) or exercise treatment groups in which they carried out stabilization exercises at different frequencies i.e. once weekly, twice weekly or three times weekly. Outcome measures used in the RCT were plasma serotonin concentration measured using an enzyme linked immunoassay technique, multifidus cross sectional area measured with diagnostic ultrasound imaging, pain intensity measured with numeric rating scale, functional disability measured with the Roland- Moris Disability Questionnaire and quality of life measured with Nottingham Health Profile. Data were collected at baseline, after six weeks of intervention and at 18 weeks follow up assessments. The results of the RCf showed that spinal stabilization exercises produced a significant increase in plasma serotonin concentration by 17.8% at all stages of data collection in all the exercise groups. All the participants in the treatment groups experienced significant reduction, by more than SO %, in pain and functional disability and improvement by more than 50% in quality of life scores after six weeks of treatment (P <0.05). The extent of reduction in pain and functional disability scores and improvement in quality oflife showed a clear trend in favour of the three times weekly exercise group at 18 weeks follow up assessments. Significant increase in the size of multifidus cross sectional area was observed only in the three times weekly exercise group (P <0.05). A linear regression analysis showed significant correlation between the changes in plasma serotonin and each of pain, functional disability and quality of life scores. (r values ranged from 0.42 to 0.67, P < 0.05). Following the RCf, nine participants (3 males and 6 females) took part in two focus groups interviews. Open ended questions were used to maximize discussion. Audio recording was used to record participant's opinions during the interview process. Careful checking, reading, and correction of the transcripts was carried out and a thematic analysis was conducted on the data. The main themes that emerged from the data analysis from the focus group interviews were: • Participants' perception of the causes and aggravating factors for their low back disorders. • Physical dimensions of participants' experience of low back disorders. • Emotional and psychological dimensions of participants' experience of low back disorders. • Perceived treatment effects on pain intensity and functional limitation. • Impact of the treatment programme on participants' empowerment and self efficacy. • Impact of information on participants' attitude to treatment. • Relationship with the therapist. • Compliance with the home programme of stabilization exercises. • Suggestion for improvement in future studies involving spinal stabilization exercises. The results of this study have indicated that an increased plasma serotonin concentration gained by the use of stabilization exercises could have a role to play in the outcome of treatment in patients with subclinical chronic LBP. The results generally indicated a better outcome of treatment in the three times weekly exercise group. Participants' explanations for the perceived improvements included major increases in confidence levels and formulation of self help strategies. They also reflected on their ability to exert better control over their own back pain, due to increased empowerment and self efficacy based on better understanding of the spine and how it works.

The present investigation examined the influence of cultural factors on Low Back Pain (LBP). Multiple regression techniques were used to determine the relative importance of clinical, social and psychological factors to LBP disability and cultural influences on these factors were then explored. The findings indicated that compared to clinical and social factors, LBP disability was most strongly associated with psychological factors (adjusted R2 change = 0.38, p<0.00), the most important of which was psychological distress. Clinical (adjusted R2 change = 0.11, p<0.00) or social (adjusted R2 change = 0.02, p=0.09) factors were only moderately or weakly associated with LBP disability. A series of hierarchical regression models examined the mediating role of cognitive Coping Strategies (Catastrophising & Praying and Hoping (Rosenstiel and Keefe (1983)) and Pain Control Beliefs (Control of Pain & Responsibility for management of Pain (Main and Waddell (1991)) on the relationship between LBP disability and distress. In support of the Cognitive Behavioural Mediational Model of chronic pain (Rudy and Turk, 1987), evidence was found to suggest that the relationship between LBP disability and distress was largely dependent upon Coping Strategies and Pain Control Beliefs. The findings also suggested that Pain Control Beliefs were largely dependent upon Coping strategies, although these relationships varied between specific Pain Control Beliefs and Coping Strategies. The study found evidence to suggest that certain self report questionnaires which are commonly used to assess cognitive factors associated with LBP may not have robust cross cultural reliabilities as measured by Cronbach's Alpha (Cronbach 1951) (Praying and Hoping (P&H) subscale of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) Rosensteil and Keefe 1983; Pain Responsibility (PR) subscale of the Pain Locus of Control (PLC) Main and Waddell 1991). The findings indicated that when used in their present form, these self reported questionnaires may provide inconsistent results with South Asian, African-born or Muslim LBP patients. The study provided evidence for the role of Cultural factors (self defined Ethnicity, Country of Birth and reported Religious Affiliation) on the experience of LBP. Although the relationship between cultural factors and LBP was generally weak (R2 change < 0.15), it appeared that South Asian, African-born and Muslim patients experienced LBP significantly worse than other LBP patients. The cultural group differences were strongest for the "passive" coping strategy "Praying and Hoping" (Rosensteil and Keefe 1983) (R2 change = 0.15, p < 0.001). The most apparent cultural differences were for Muslim patients who compared with all other Religious groups consistently reported the worst experience of LBP. Muslim LBP patients were clinically more disabled than either Christian (mean Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) difference (Roland and Morris, 1983) = 4.13) or other (mean RMDQ difference = 4.29) LBP patients. The statistical control of clinical variables in the regression models led to the conclusion that these groups of patients had a more "chronic" experience of LBP. Religious affiliation may help to identify LBP patients who present to secondary care with more chronic symptoms of LBP. Standardisation of self report questionnaire in these cultural groups may improve the precision of these findings. The present investigation was primarily descriptive in that reasons for cultural differences were not empirically examined. However the study findings suggest potentially fruitful areas for further investigation particularly that work on the meaning of "Praying" as a coping strategy and on its relationship with LBP disability for non-Christian groups would appear warranted.

Low back-related leg pain (LBLP) is clinically diagnosed as referred leg pain or sciatica. The clinical task of differentiating sciatica from referred leg pain can be challenging but is important for the purpose of treatment choices. There is currently no agreement on which clinical criteria best identify sciatica in clinical or research settings and the spectrum of clinical presentation in patients with LBLP is variable. This thesis aimed to identify diagnostic criteria for sciatica and explore and describe clusters of LBLP patients using cross-sectional data from 609 primary care LBLP consulters. A systematic literature search of LBLP classification systems showed very few systems specifically addressed LBLP classification. Within the systems, there was wide variation in definitions and clinical features of sciatica, with most systems based on clinical opinion. Reliability was merely fair (kappa = 0.35) amongst clinicians diagnosing sciatica but at higher levels of confidence in diagnosis (≥80%), reliability improved (kappa =0.68). Using high confidence clinical diagnosis as a reference standard, with and without confirmatory MRI findings, diagnostic models for sciatica were developed and compared. A simple scoring tool based on the best performing model was devised showing the probability of having sciatica based on results from five clinical items (subjective sensory changes, below knee pain, leg pain worse than back pain, positive neural tension, neurological deficit). Latent class analysis identified five classes of LBLP patients. One class was clearly a referred leg pain group, the other four classes seemed to represent sciatica with varying clinical profiles. This thesis provides a diagnostic tool for sciatica with potential application in clinical and research settings. It also reveals clusters of LBLP patients which could represent more homogenous groups amenable to different treatment approaches. This thesis has provided a strong basis for future work to further explore the clinical utility of the findings.

Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is thought to account for 40% of all cases of chronic low back pain. Alterations in the behaviour of the IVDs’ native cell population mediate the processes that lead to structural failure, as seen in IVD degeneration. Cytokines are implicated in this process, several studies have identified that Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) expression is increased in degenerate IVDs compared to their normal counterparts. Furthermore, it has been shown in vitro that these cytokines stimulate alterations in the behaviour of the IVDs’ native cells in a similar manner to those observed in IVD degeneration. However, IL-1 and TNF-α are only two of a large group of intercellular signalling molecules known as cytokines, and studies investigating the expression of other cytokines in the human IVD are limited. This thesis demonstrates the production of numerous cytokines and chemokines (chemoattractant cytokines) by the human IVDs’ native cell population. Detailed gene and protein expression studies identified several novel cytokines and chemokines that are differentially expressed in cells isolated from degenerate or prolapsed IVDs compared to those isolated from the normal counterpart. Coexpression of receptors for these molecules was also identified, indicating a capacity of these cells to respond to cytokine intercellular signalling. The response of IVD cells to cytokine and chemokine stimulation in vitro was investigated. The data presented indicates that inter-regulatory relationships exist between the cytokines and chemokines of the intervertebral disc. Particularly, IL-1 exerts modulatory potential over the expression of other cytokines and chemokines by IVD cells. Effects of stimulation were also observed in relation to reduced anabolic metabolism and increased catabolic metabolism, both of which are characteristic features of IVD degeneration. Together, the findings presented in this thesis indicate that cytokines and chemokines are integral to the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration and prolapse that may lead to low back pain.

Low back pain is a common condition that will affect 80% of the population at some point in their lives. For the majority of people the pain and associated disability will be resolved and they will resume normal activities. For a small proportion of this group however, the condition will remain unresolved with associated long-term pain and disability; this is termed chronic low back pain (CLBP). The costs associated with CLBP are high both physically and emotionally for the individual, and in terms of the economic burden placed on society pertaining to healthcare costs and lost productivity. CLBP is a multifaceted condition. Whilst a biopsychosocial model of care, as opposed to the traditional biomedical model, is advocated as the best approach for its management it has been suggested that the impact on the self-concept and identity of individuals with this condition has not been fully explored or addressed. This study employed a biographical approach with the aim of understanding the impact on the lives and identities of men living with CLBP. Five men were recruited and in-depth interviews were undertaken which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. The identity of all the participants in the study had been affected by CLBP. Clear themes emerged that included feeling defined by their CLBP, experiencing feelings of frustration and anger, the inability to retain their masculine role, the impact on fatherhood, public and private identities, physicality and feeling a liability or burden to others. The support received from significant others was also highlighted. The participants detailed how exercise and education were major aspects in the management of their condition whilst resilience and the use of humour were also very apparent in their narratives as mechanisms to enable them to cope with CLBP.

The purpose of this study was to explore personal accounts of acute non-specific low back pain experiences to gain insights and extend knowledge for physiotherapy practice and research. At present, knowledge of acute low back pain and understandings of the transition from acute to chronic low back problems largely derives from experimental research and population-generated findings developed from self-report questionnaires. Despite extensive research, there remains a limited ability to prevent the transition from acute low back pain problems to chronic pain and long term disability in many individuals. A qualitative study of personal accounts of acute low back pain experiences was undertaken using a theoretical perspective drawn from narrative research and discourse analysis. The approach incorporated narrative theory and perspectives from social constructionism, post-structuralism and theory of language. Nineteen participants with acute non-specific low back pain problems (< 6 weeks) were followed through to recovery or to three months with persisting problems, considered as the transition to `chronicity'. Data was generated through repeated interviews and written personal accounts involving a reflective timeline and a seven day open-format diary. Data analysis applied a narrative-discursive approach, and in particular a combined micro-interactional and macro-social approach drawn from discursive psychology. The nature of personal accounts of acute low back pain experiences has been shown to be significantly more complex than previously described within physiotherapy or low back pain literature. As personal circumstances were characterised so as to be appreciated as a significant problem, the accounts were constructed with qualities to support the credibility of the information. The accounts were also shaped to manage impressions of personal character, moral integrity, and personal accountability. In addition, considerations provided by the broader and situated social context, social relations and the unfolding interaction influenced the nature of the accounts. Finally, time was also an integral feature to the nature of the accounts, as a changing social context, an entity of personal and social significance and for its use as a resource for conveying meanings. This complexity has important implications for the interpretation of accounts and for the kind of knowledge assumed possible. Understanding the complexity also supports a more informed approach to the generation, interpretation and use of personal accounts as a form of information within practice and research contexts. The value of the methodology used in this study and the incorporation of theory and understandings from other disciplines for extending knowledge for physiotherapy practice is also discussed. 2