Viscoelastic response of the human lower back to passive flexion: the effects of age

Details

• Personal Author:
  Allen-Bryant K ; Bazrgari B ; Shojaei I
• Description:
  Low back pain is a leading cause of disability in the elderly. The potential role of spinal instability in increasing risk of low back pain with aging was indirectly investigated via assessment of age-related differences in viscoelastic response of lower back to passive deformation. The passive deformation tests were conducted in upright standing posture to account for the effects of gravity load and corresponding internal tissues responses on the lower back viscoelastic response. Average bending stiffness, viscoelastic relaxation, and dissipated energy were quantified to characterize viscoelastic response of the lower back. Larger average bending stiffness, viscoelastic relaxation and dissipated energy were observed among older vs. younger participants. Furthermore, average bending stiffness of the lower back was found to be the highest around the neutral standing posture and to decrease with increasing the lower back flexion angle. Larger bending stiffness of the lower back at flexion angles where passive contribution of lower back tissues to its bending stiffness was minimal (i.e., around neutral standing posture) highlighted the important role of active vs. passive contribution of tissues to lower back bending stiffness and spinal stability. As a whole our results suggested that a diminishing contribution of passive and volitional active subsystems to spinal stability may not be a reason for higher severity of low back pain in older population. The role of other contributing elements to spinal stability (e.g., active reflexive) as well as equilibrium-based parameters (e.g., compression and shear forces under various activities) in increasing severity of low back pain with aging should be investigated in future. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Aging Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Age Factors Age Groups Author Keywords: Age-related Differences Back Injuries Back Pain Low Back Pain Lower Back Bending Stiffness MSD Musculoskeletal System Disorders Passive Deformation Posture Viscoelastic Response

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• ISSN:
  0090-6964
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047696
• Citation:
  Ann Biomed Eng 2016 Sep; 44(9):2817-2826
• Contact Point Address:
  Babak Bazrgari, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Kentucky, 514E Robotic and Manufacturing Building, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA
• Email:
  babak.bazrgari@uky.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20120701
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of Biomedical Engineering
• End Date:
  20150630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:82727ed4b83267643767482c5cbf16dbb2b725a923a50cb0e959162f0353cc41e64c1b6138b99082c1e1608f249083604809a3a9bf1cffda49c54b5790ad6282
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202699/cdc_202699_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.37 MB ]