Lumbar trunk muscle endurance testing: an inexpensive alternative to a machine for evaluation

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Musculoskeletal Health
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Trunk muscle endurance is crucial for spinal stability and function.
• Evaluating trunk muscle endurance is important for diagnosing and managing chronic low-back pain (CLBP).
• Existing methods for assessing trunk muscle endurance may have limitations in reliability or ease of use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the reliability and safety of novel trunk muscle endurance assessment methods.
• To compare trunk muscle endurance between healthy individuals and patients with CLBP.
• To assess the degree of lumbar lordosis using conventional and new methods.

Main Methods:

• A randomized, controlled study involving 90 healthy subjects and 100 patients with CLBP.
• Subjects performed trunk flexor and extensor endurance tests, maintaining positions for maximal duration.
• Test-retest reliability and lumbar lordosis were analyzed.
• Performance time (seconds) was the primary outcome measure.

Main Results:

• The new trunk endurance tests demonstrated high test-retest reliability in both healthy subjects and CLBP patients (p < .01).
• Healthy subjects exhibited significantly longer endurance performance times compared to CLBP patients (p < .01).
• The novel method showed a significantly smaller degree of lumbar lordosis compared to the Kraus-Weber test (p < .01).

Conclusions:

• The developed methods for trunk flexor and extensor endurance assessment are reliable, reproducible, safe, and user-friendly.
• Trunk muscles in individuals with CLBP are more susceptible to fatigue than in healthy individuals.
• These findings support the utility of the new methods in clinical and research settings for evaluating trunk muscle function.