Introduction. As one of the highly prevalent musculoskeletal disorders, low back pain incurs high medical care costs. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation has been used in treating chronic low back pain. This study aimed to investigate the effects of multiple proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques on endurance of the trunk musculature, spinal mobility, and impairment of function in cases of chronic low back pain. Methods. Patients in this study were randomly assigned into 3 groups. Group A received rhythmic stabilization training, group B received a combination of isotonic exercises, while group C received a combination of both rhythmic stabilization training and combination of isotonic exercises. Trunk endurance was evaluated with trunk flexion and trunk extension endurance tests, spinal mobility was assessed with a modified Schober test, and functional impairment was measured with oswestry disability index. Results. ANoVA showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among the groups after treatment in the measured outcomes. Tukey's honest significant difference post-hoc test revealed a highly statistically significant improvement in the measured outcomes of group C in comparison with the other groups in the post-intervention conditions. Conclusions. The application of the rhythmic stabilization training technique of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation followed by a combination of isotonic exercises was more effective than implementing either technique alone in the treatment of patients with chronic low back pain.
The aim of this study was to examine bilateral isometric muscle strength (IMS) in right-handed boys. To determine the association between the magnitudes of right handedness (MRH) and (a) the interside difference indexes of IMS of certain muscle categories, (b) age, and (c) some anthropometric characteristics. This was a cross-sectional study. A convenience sample of 94 right-handed boys between 6 and 10 years of age was investigated. The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory was used to evaluate hand dominance and its magnitude. IMS of eight muscle groups was measured and the interside difference was determined. Five interside difference indexes were calculated for the upper limb, lower limb, hand grip, key pinch, and total side. All interside difference indexes of IMS were less than 5%, in favor of the dominant right side. The majority (86.1%) of our boys scored high to moderate MRH, whereas the minority (13.8%) scored low MRH. The hand grip interside difference index (β=0.40, P=0.000), the key pinch interside difference index (β=0.23, P=0.003), age (β=0.24, P=0.034), and height (β=0.33, P=0.039) are the best set of predictors of the dominance score and in turn the MRH. The results of this study, carried out on right-handed boys aged 6-10 years, indicated a standard difference in IMS between dominant and nondominant sides of all studied muscle strength categories. Furthermore, it was found that the hand grip interside difference index, the key pinch interside difference index, age, and height could influence the MRH.
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