Introduction: As much as 50–80% of the world’s population experience non-specific low back pain at least once. Occupational factors are said to be the main cause in 37% of cases. Physiotherapists are an occupational group at increased risk of non-specific low back pain due to their physical work. Reduced strength and poorer trunk muscle endurance have been shown to be the key predictors for the occurrence of low back pain. Purpose: The purpose
of this research was to evaluate the influence of trunk muscle endurance on the incidence of non-specific low back pain in physiotherapy students. Methods: Physiotherapy students without musculoskeletal injury or disease who had no low back pain on the test day participated in the study. They were divided into two groups based on their experience of non-specific low back pain: mild pain and strong pain. The endurance of the four major trunk muscle groups (extensors, flexors, left and right lateral trunk muscles) was tested using timed
trunk endurance tests performed on the 45° inclined Roman bench. Endurance ratios between the muscle groups were calculated from the data obtained. After testing each muscle group, participants also rated their perceived exertion using the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale. Results: There were 30 physiotherapy students involved in the study, 21 women and 9 men, aged 21.5 (1.1) years. There were no statistically significant differences between the
groups in trunk muscle endurance and perceived exertion ratings. However, there was a statistically significant difference in the endurance ratios, more precisely in ratios between the trunk flexors and extensors (p = 0.038) and the right lateral and extensor trunk muscles (p = 0.014) – higher ratios in the mild pain group. Discussion and conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the correlation between trunk muscle endurance and the occurrence of non-specific low back pain in physiotherapy students cannot be confirmed. It would be sensible to conduct further, more detailed research on this topic and to consider whether preventive exercises should be included in the physiotherapy curriculum due to the high number of students who have already experienced this type of pain.
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