Non-specific chronic low back pain (e.g. LBP) affects approximately two-thirds of the population at least once in a lifetime. In Slovenia, the extent of LBP is around seventy per cent and is, therefore, the most common cause among chronic diseases for visiting a doctor. Risk factors that cause non-specific LBP are numerous, however, despite intensive research in this field, it is still rather unclear how to avoid LBP and heal it. In order to clarify this, we would like to research the correlation between muscle endurance of the torso and LBP in adults with and without non-specific low back pain. The aim is to inquire whether the values of the tests for muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles vary between the subjects with an LBP history and those without it.
We evaluated the muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles with four tests for determining the muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer according to McGill: trunk flexor test, trunk extensor test, and lateral musculature test (left, right). The research part of the dissertation was performed in two parts. In the first part, where we measured the repeatability of tests for the evaluation of muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles, we had 10 subjects, volunteers, without acute and/or chronic non-specific LBP. In the second part, where we performed measurements – tests for muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles, we had 31 subjects, volunteers, without and with non-specific chronic LBP. To evaluate LBP and the capability to perform everyday activities, we used the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire.
Tests for muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles indicate a high degree of reliability (ICC₂,₁ = 0,96 in 0,99), with the exception of the test for the endurance of trunk flexors that can be subject to effects of studying. However, we have not succeeded in demonstrating statistically the correlation between non-specific chronic LBP and the results of the muscle endurance tests. We have neither succeeded in statistically demonstrating the characteristic differences in the inter-muscular ratio in individuals with and without non-specific LBP. The used tests for muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles have not proved as a good tool to screen individuals with or without non-specific chronic LBP, since they express low positive predictive value.
The incompatibility between the reported values of the tests for muscle endurance of the torso stabilizer muscles and the clash of results of the research indicate a necessity of further extensive research with a larger representative sample that would substantially communicate characteristics of the entire population and enable better understanding of the correlation between the endurance components of the torso stabilizer muscles and non-specific LBP.
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