Effects of prolonged sitting on the passive flexion stiffness of the in vivo lumbar spine.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Prolonged sitting may alter the passive stiffness of the lumbar spine. Consequently, performing full lumbar flexion movements after extended periods of sitting may increase the risk of low back injury. PURPOSE: The purpose was to quantify time-varying changes in the passive flexion stiffness of the lumbar spine with exposure to prolonged sitting and to link these changes to lumbar postures and trunk extensor muscle activation while sitting. A secondary objective was to determine whether men and women responded differently to prolonged sitting. STUDY DESIGN: Passive lumbar flexion moment-angle curves were generated before, during and after 2 hours of sitting. Lumbar flexion/extension postures and extensor muscle activation levels were measured while sitting. SAMPLE: Twelve (6 men, 6 women) university students with no recent low back pain were studied. OUTCOME MEASURES: Quantified changes in the shapes of the passive flexion moment-angle curves (slopes, breakpoints and maximum lumbar flexion angles) were the outcome measures. While sitting, average lumbar flexion/extension angles, the distribution of lumbar flexion/extension postures, average electromyogram (EMG) amplitude, the number and average length of EMG gaps, and trunk extensor muscle rest levels were measured. METHODS: Participants performed deskwork for 2 hours while sitting on the seat pan of an office chair. Moment-angle relationships for the lumbar spine were derived by pulling participants through their full voluntary range of lumbar flexion on a customized frictionless table. RESULTS: Lumbar spine stiffness increased in men after only 1 hour of sitting, whereas the responses of women were variable over the 2-hour trial. Men appeared to compensate for this increase in stiffness by assuming less lumbar flexion in the second hour of sitting. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the passive flexion stiffness of the lumbar spine may increase the risk of low back injury after prolonged sitting and may contribute to low back pain in sitting.

Stadiometry: on measurement technique to reduce variability in spine shrinkage measurement.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effect of two measurement techniques for repeated measures of spine height using stadiometry following five experimental activity conditions.DESIGN. Six subjects were repeatedly measured while they stepped in and out of the stadiometer for each pair of measures and again on another day when they remained in place in the stadiometer for all 10 measures.RESULTS. There was much greater variability in height measures with the "in-out" method while the "in place" method demonstrated a steady shrinkage over the 3-3.5 min required to obtain the repeated measures. RelevanceContrary to popular practice, leaving a subject in the stadiometer during repeated measures includes the shrinkage that occurs over the 3-3.5 min of measurement when standing and reduces random variation due to posture change.