Spinal movement impairments in people with acute low back pain

Spinal movement impairments have been found to be important in people with chronic low back pain (LBP).

Identify whether people with acute LBP display the impairments. Compare the prevalence of impairments in people with acute LBP to that of people with chronic LBP. Examine the effect on symptoms of systematically modifying the impairments.

Secondary analysis METHOD: 183 people with LBP were examined by trained physical therapists using a standardized examination. Participants performed 9 primary tests using their preferred strategy. The clinician determined whether an impairment was present or absent. Participants reported the effect of the primary test on symptoms. If an impairment was present, it was modified to improve the impairment during a secondary test. Participants reported the effect of the secondary test on symptoms relative to symptoms with the primary test. Chi-square tests of independence were used to test for differences in the proportion of impairments between people with acute LBP and people with chronic LBP. A McNemar-Bowker test was used to test whether there was a change in symptoms from the primary test to the secondary test.

People with acute LBP displayed the spinal movement impairments and the prevalence was similar to that of people with chronic LBP for 7 of the 9 primary tests. Most participants with symptomatic impairments reported their symptoms improved when the impairment was modified.

Spinal movement impairments are prevalent in people with acute LBP and may be modified during clinical tests to improve LBP symptoms.