Relationship between Physical Function and Spinal Sagittal Plane Alignment of Elderly Men

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between physical function and spinal alignment in the saggital plane of elderly men. [Subjects and Method] Using a spinal mouse, we measured thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis angles as the spinal alignment in the saggital plane of 57 elderly men (average age 74.8  5.8). Using quadriceps femoris strength, grip strength, toe-grip strength, forward reach in the long sitting position, one-leg standing time, maximum walking speed, the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, 10m obstacle course walking time, and the six-minute walking distance as physical function we sought relationships with spinal alignment in the saggital plane. [Results] We found relationships with the lumbar lordosis angle for all items except grip strength, forward reach in long sitting, and TUG. [Conclusion] The results suggest the possibility that the physical function of elderly males is related to the lumbar lordosis angle.

Spinal Posture in the Sagittal Plane Is Associated With Future Dependence in Activities of Daily Living: A Community-Based Cohort Study of Older Adults in Japan

“…Some reports in Japanese indicated that lumbar lordosis decreased with increase in age (27,28) and our results supported these earlier studies. Lumbar lordosis is also reported to be associated with decline in walking ability and in muscle power of lower limb (28)(29)(30). In this study, however, lumbar curvature only showed a marginal association with future dependence in ADL.…”