These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: The effect of extensible and non-extensible lumbar belts on trunk postural balance in subjects with low back pain and healthy controls.
    Author: Shahvarpour A, Preuss R, Larivière C.
    Journal: Gait Posture; 2019 Jul; 72():211-216. PubMed ID: 31255888.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Previous findings suggest that wearing a lumbar belt may benefit some patients with low back pain; however, the mechanisms of action are not yet fully understood. RESEARCH QUESTION: The effect of wearing two flexible (extensible and non-extensible) lumbar belts on trunk postural control was investigated during an unstable sitting task. METHODS: Healthy subjects and subjects with LBP sat on a wobbling chair, with and without the lumbar belts. Chair rotation was measured in the sagittal and frontal planes, and 10 linear and nonlinear measures of balance were computed to assess the quantity (3 measures) and quality (7 measures) of the movements. RESULTS: Both lumbar belts induced similar changes in specific measures of trunk postural control, for both subject groups, generally indicative of more instability and less controllability, but with low effect sizes (0.14 and 0.40). Subjects with LBP also showed lower entropy (complexity; effect size 0.93) and higher determinism (predictability; effect size 0.56) than healthy controls, under all test conditions. These findings indicate that the subjects with LBP used a less complex, more predictable trunk postural control strategy, suggestive of impaired adaptability and responsiveness to dynamic trunk postural control demands. The findings also suggest other factors related to dynamic adaptability may be impaired by lumbar belt use. SIGNIFICANCE: The effects of the lumbar belts on trunk postural control were small, however, their practical implications for the management of LBP remain to be determined in relation to other effects of lumbar belts (e.g. increased mechanical stiffness).
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]