Gluteus medius coactivation response in field hockey players with and without low back pain

To examine the effect of prolonged standing on gluteus medius coactivation and to observe whether the changes in gluteus medius coactivation over time were related to the development of low back pain in elite female field hockey players.

Prospective cohort design.

Participants were 39 elite female field hockey players (14 with a history of low back pain). Before the prolonged stand, maximal hip abduction strength, side bridge hold endurance and hip abduction range of motion were measured bilaterally. Surface electromyography was collected from the gluteus medius for coactivation analysis during a prolonged stand for 70 min. Low back pain was rated every 10 min on a visual analogue scale.

Fourteen of 39 participants developed low back pain. The Time effect was significant for gluteus medius coactivation response (p = 0.003) and visual analogue scale score (p < 0.001). There were no significant group × time interactions. Yet athletes who developed pain had higher coactivation for the majority of the stand task.

While female field hockey players have high agonist-antagonist coactivation patterns during prolonged standing, stand task is a useful tool to predict low back pain occurrence in players with and without history of pain.