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Clinical tests predictive of temporary low back pain development during the prolonged standing test in physical therapy students
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Clinical tests predictive of temporary low back pain development during the prolonged standing test in physical therapy students

Eric Folkins, Erika Nelson-Wong, David Ebaugh and Sheri Silfies
Ergonomics, v 68(2), pp 237-250
01 Feb 2025
PMID: 38440991

Abstract

Back pain low back lumbar spine physical therapists prolonged standing
Low back pain among physical therapists is a common musculoskeletal disorder that first occurs early in their career or as a student. This observational prospective study assessed the ability of hip and lumbopelvic neuromuscular control, endurance and hip range of motion tests to predict the development of transient low back pain development during a standing task. Seventy-two physical therapy students without low back pain completed nine performance tests and a 2-hour standing test on two separate days. Participants were classified as transient pain developers (PD) if they reported a ≥ 10mm increase in low back pain on a visual analog scale. Transient back pain was reported by 37.5% of students during the standing test. A cluster of three positive tests, self-rated active hip abduction (somewhat difficult or more), bilateral total hip internal rotation greater than 81 degrees, and non-dominant limb single-leg squat (moderate deviations), demonstrated an increased probability (94.9%) of identifying PDs. Negative findings on the same three tests decreased the probability to 10.7%. Overall, the classification accuracy for the three-test model was 72.2%. The sensitivity for the model was 63% and the specificity was 77.8%.

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#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Engineering, Industrial
Ergonomics
Psychology
Psychology, Applied
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