MSc, Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / The Association between Trunk Muscle Endurance and
Lumbar-Pelvic Instability in Adolescent Low Back Pain
Françoise Lewis
Supervisors: Wendy-Anne Wood, Benita Naude.
Low back pain (LBP) is a common cause of discomfort in modern
society, and the prevalence of LBP in the adolescent population is
high and has a predictive value for the occurrence of LBP as an
adult.
The aim of the study was to investigate the association between
adolescent LBP and trunk muscle endurance and lumbar-pelvic
instability, as well as the association between trunk muscle
endurance and lumbar-pelvic instability. Sports and physical
activity participation, sedentary activity participation and a family history were also investigated as they have been identified in
previous studies as potential risk factors.
The study was a cross sectional study of 80 adolescents in grade
8 to grade 11, aged 12 to 17 year , at three high schools in Gauteng, who agreed to participate in the study. Data was
collected by means of a validated questionnaire and a physical examination. The level of significance for as sociated factors was
set at 0.05.
The results revealed a lifetime prevalence of 82.50%, one year
prevalence of 78.80% and point prevalence of 23.80%.
Adolescents with LBP have decreased endurance of the trunk
extensor muscles but increased endurance of the trunk flexor
muscles, which is statistically significant (p=0.044) . Lumbar-pelvic instability is not associated with adolescent LBP. Extensor
trunk muscle endurance and poor lumbar pelvic stability show an
association (p=0.031), with those adolescents with decreased
trunk extensor muscle endurance presenting with poor lumbar-pelvic stability.
A family history of LBP is significant for point prevalence of LBP
(p=0.012), and one-year prevalence of LBP is marginally
significant (p=0.086). Low activity level particpation was reported
by a large percentage of all subjects. Sedentary activity
participation is moderate in the LBP group, but the results are not
statistically significant .
There is a need for preventative srategies to decrease the
prevalence of adolescent LBP. Increased awareness of LBP and
potential risk factors needs to be addressed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/9820 |
| Date | 17 May 2011 |
| Creators | Lewis, Francoise |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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