Patients with chronic low back pain demonstrated poorer postural control of the lumbar spine and longer trunk muscle response times than healthy control volunteers. Correlation between these two phenomena suggests a common underlying pathology in the lumbar spine.

The delayed muscle reflex response significantly increases the odds of sustaining an LBI. These delayed latencies appear to be a preexisting risk factor and not the effect of an LBI.

In this prospective study, we investigated whether a history of previous low back injury and dissatisfaction with a coach and teammates could predict future low back injury in varsity athletes during a 1-year follow-up period. Of 679 Yale varsity athletes surveyed in 1999, 18.3% (124) reported that they had sustained a low back injury within the past 5 years, and 6.8% (46) sustained a low back injury in the follow-up season. There were no differences in incidence rates between men and women or between athletes involved in contact or noncontact sports. A history of low back injury was the significant predictor for sustaining low back injury in the following year, and athletes who reported previous low back injury were at three times greater risk. Athletes who still had pain at the time of the survey were six times more likely to sustain a low back injury than were athletes without a history of low back injury. These results suggest that some risk factors associated with a history of low back injury predispose athletes to sustain recurrent injury. They may be congenital or a result of insufficient recovery time after the first low back injury episode.

Background: Impaired proprioception in the lumbar spine has often been reported in people with low back pain. However, no prospective studies exist to assert the cause and effect of this association. We hypothesized that athletes with a history of low back injury (LBI) would demonstrate poorer lumbar position sense (PS) than athletes without a history of LBI, and that this deficit would be a risk factor for future LBI.