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Abstract
Objective: To compare the lumbar paraspinal and gluteus maximus muscle fatigability between
chronic low back pain patients and healthy controls by using electromyographic (EMG)
spectral analysis during a maximal isometric endurance task.
Design: A cross-sectional comparative study between chronic low back pain patients and healthy
control subjects.
Setting: Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic in Finland.
Subjects: Twenty women with nonspecific chronic low back pain (longer than 3 months) and 15
healthy controls.
Intervention: Subjects performed maximal voluntary isometric back extensions (MVC) at 30° forward
flexion in a specially designed measurement unit. A 50% MVC load was used in isometric
endurance test.
Outcome Measures: Low back pain intensity was assessed by using the visual analogue scale and functional
disability by the Oswestry disability index. Time to endurance was measured. Bipolar
surface EMG recordings were made over the lumbar paraspinal muscles (L3-L4, L5-S 1)
and over the gluteus maximus muscles. Average EMG (aEMG%), and initial spectral median
frequency (MFinit) and change over time (MFslope) were computed.
Results: Pain intensity and functional disability were higher and MVC and time to endurance
were lower in the chronic low back pain group (p < .05). Similar muscle activity levels (aEMG%) and MFinit indicated similar muscle loading in both groups at the beginning of the endurance
test. EMG spectral decreases (MFslope) indicated that lumbar paraspinal muscle fatigability was similar in both groups.
In the chronic low back pain group, the gluteus maximus fatigued faster than in the
control group (greater MFslopep < .05). However, the shorter endurance time indicated greater fatigability in the
chronic low back pain group in general (p < .05).
Conclusions: The chronic low back pain patients were weaker and fatigue faster than the healthy
control. The EMG fatigue analysis result suggest that the gluteus maximus muscles
are more fatigable in chronic low back pain patient than in healthy control subject
during a sustained back extension endurance test.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
September 5,
1997
Received:
March 17,
1997
Footnotes
☆Supported by a TULES Graduate School Scholarship from the Finnish Academy of Science; the Finnish Work Environmental Fund; Instrumentarium Science Foundation; Emil Aaltonen Science Foundation; and Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation.
☆☆No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 1998 Published by Elsevier Inc.
