The relationship beween posture and back muscle endurance in industrial workers with flexion-related low back pain

Peter B. O’Sullivan, Tim Mitchell, Paul Bulich, Rob Waller and Johan Holte

This study was undertaken to determine if there were measurable relationships between posture, back muscle endurance and low back pain (LBP) in industrial workers with a reported history of flexion strain injury and flexion pain provocation.  Subjects included 21 healthy industrial workers and 24 industrial workers with flexion-provoked LBP. LBP subjects had significantly reduced back muscle endurance, sat with less hip flexion suggesting increased posterior pelvic tilt in sitting and postured their spines significantly closer to their end of range lumbar flexion in ‘usual’ sitting than the healthy controls.  Correlations between increased time spent sitting, physical inactivity and poorer back muscle endurance were also identified. These preliminary results support that a relationship may exist between flexed spinal postures, reduced back muscle endurance, physical inactivity and LBP in subjects with a history of flexion injury and pain.

Manual Therapy, Volume 11, Issue 4, November 2006, Pages 264-271

View Abstract

Full article with Athens login