[Purpose] Differences in scores on the Functional Movement Screen between patients with
chronic lower back pain and healthy control subjects were investigated. [Subjects and
Methods] In all, 20 chronic lower back pain patients and 20 healthy control subjects were
recruited. Chronic lower back pain patients and healthy controls performed the Functional
Movement Screen (deep squat, hurdle step, inline lunge, shoulder mobility, active straight
leg raise, trunk stability pushup, and rotary stability). The Mann-Whitney test was used
to analyze differences in Functional Movement Screen scores between the two groups.
[Results] Chronic lower back pain patients scored lower on the Functional Movement Screen
total composite compared with healthy control subjects. Chronic lower back pain patients
scored lower on Functional Movement Screen subtests including the deep squat, hurdle step,
active straight leg raise, and rotary stability tests. [Conclusion] The deep squat, hurdle
step, active straight leg raise, and rotary stability tasks of the Functional Movement
Screen can be recommended as a functional assessment tools to identify functional deficits
in chronic lower back pain patients.
[Purpose] This study was to investigate differences in the level of activity of the
external oblique (EO), internal oblique (IO), and multifidus (MF) muscles with deep
breathing in three sitting postures. [Subjects and Methods] Sixteen healthy women were
recruited. The muscle activity (EO, IO, MF) of all subjects was measured in three sitting
postures (slumped, thoracic upright, and lumbo-pelvic upright sitting postures) using
surface electromyography. The activity of the same muscles was then remeasured in the
three sitting postures during deep breathing. [Results] Deep breathing significantly
increased activity in the EO, IO, and MF compared with normal breathing. Comparing
postures, the activity of the MF and IO muscles was highest in the lumbo-pelvic upright
sitting posture. [Conclusion] An lumbo-pelvic upright sitting posture with deep breathing
could increase IO and MF muscle activity, thus improving lumbo-pelvic region
stability.
Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) has been recommended as the first choice as one of the effective methods for preventing and improving urinary incontinence (UI). We aimed to determine whether pressure biofeedback unit training (PBUT) improves short term and retention performance of pelvic floor muscle contraction. The muscle activities of the external oblique (EO), transversus/internal oblique (TrA/IO), multifidus (MF) and the bladder base displacement were measured in the verbal feedback group (n = 10) and PBU group (n = 10) three times (baseline, post-training, and at the 1-week follow-up). Surface electromyographic activity was recorded from the EO, TrA/IO, and MF muscles. The bladder base displacement was measured using ultrasound. The results were analyzed using two way mixed ANOVA. The bladder base displacement may have elevated more in the PBU group than in the verbal feedback group due to decreased TrA/IO activity. These findings indicate that PBUT is a better method than verbal feedback training.
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