Energetics and mechanics of walking in patients with chronic low back pain and healthy matched controls

Abstract

These results do not support the hypothesis of a less efficient walking pattern in patients with cLBP and imply that high walking speeds are well tolerated by patients with moderately disabling cLBP.

Wearable inertial sensors for human movement analysis

“…In a review of 2011 [21], only 3 out of 92 outcome measures of kinematic measures used for assessing gait stability were performed using inertial sensors, but in the last 5 years, a large and growing body of literature has investigated the use of wearable inertial devices for assessing upright gait stability in healthy subjects [41], patients with stroke[27, 32,42], children with cerebral palsy [28,43], people with low-back pain [44], those with cognitive impairments [45], subjects with autism and Down Syndrome [46], and people with lower limb amputation [47] (for a more recent specific review see [17]). …”

Lumbopelvic Pain and Threats to Walking Ability in Well‐Functioning Older Adults: Findings from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

“…Most investigations of back pain in older adults have examined more general populations in which mobility limitations are highly prevalent 11,12 and/or focused on lower order tasks and abilities 12,13 which may be insensitive indicators of mobility deficits in well-functioning older adults. 3,8,14,15 The scant research on back pain and energetic efficiency has used small samples and has been largely inconclusive. 16 Additionally, persons reporting back pain often have low physical activity ,17,18 raising the possibility that back pain’s impact on mobility may be underappreciated as low activity may obscure the consequences of intermittent and/or lingering back pain.…”

Chronic low back pain and walking speed: effects on the spatiotemporal parameters and in gait variability

“…It is possible to speculate that one should consider other relevant features involved in the etiology of LBP syndrome for that spatiotemporal changes to be present. Henchoz et al 31 did not observe differences in the spatiotemporal, mechanical, and metabolic variables in people with and without LBP, even with the self-selected speed for the lumbar group being slower than the control group. One of the arguments suggested to explain these outcomes was that peripheral musculoskeletal disorders, unlike central musculoskeletal disorders, may not be sufficiently large to cause a less efficient walking pattern.…”

“…In the medical literature, some investigators have highlighted the impairment in the walking pattern in people with CLBP as a synchronous movement between trunk and pelvis leading to "en bloc" style of walking, alteration of proprioceptive postural control, tendency to adopt ankle strategy for walking and slower speed gait than people without CLBP. In general, it is accepted that those adaptations might happen as a protective reaction to avoid pain 30,31 . However, our data indicate the opposite, and they do not support the theory that patients with CLBP avoid moving due to the pain.…”