The Effects of Lumbar Stabilization Exercise on Pain and Range of Motion in the Shoulder

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Lumbar stabilization exercise was used to improve spinal mobilization and stabilization. This research was conducted to investigate the effects of lumbar stabilization exercise programs on shoulder pain and range of motion among a group of elderly individuals. METHODS: The study subjects were 28 elderly patients from C hospital, Gochang, Jeollabukdo. They were randomly divided into 3 groups lumbar stability exercise group, passive upper arm exercise group, and conservative therapy group. The therapies were conducted for 4 weeks. Shoulder pain and range of motion were measured both before and after therapies. The homogeneity of study subjects was analyzed using the chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. For the pre-/post-status comparison, the Wilcoxon's signed-ranks tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted. RESULTS: General characteristics including age, sex, and disease history of the 3 groups were comparable. After 4 weeks of exercise, shoulder pain was significantly reduced in the lumbar stability exercise group (6.4+/-2.9 vs. 3.6+/-3.1, P=.026) and range of motion was significantly increased in the same group. More specifically, right flexion (121.1+/-12.0degrees vs. 137.9+/-11.9degrees, P=.008), right abduction (96.6+/-21.8degrees vs. 129.7+/-50.7degrees, P=.008), and left abduction (92.0+/-21.8degrees vs. 110.3+/-21.2degrees, P=.038) increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Shoulder pain and range of motion improved significantly in the lumbar stability exercise group. Further study is needed to look into the longer effects of this exercise program using more subjects.