Development of Experimental Protocol to Quantitativey Assess the Neuromuscular Control Capability of Low-Back Pain Patients

Abstract

An experimental protocol was developed in this study in order to quantify the control capability of the trunk movement for LBP patients. Fitts' law (1954) was employed to measure the dynamic performance parameters such as flexion/extension velocity and acceleration with controlled ROM and the information processing capacity (bits/second) of the trunk. A series of statistical analyses were performed to reduce the length of protocol for clinical application; 11 indices of difficulty (ID= log₂(2A/W), A: ROM, W: target tolerance) used by Kim et al. (1993, 1994) were shortened into 3 ID conditions. The accuracy of the protocol was validated by comparing those two conditions: 3 IDs and 11 IDs. This clinical protocol was also adjusted to test patients with ROM from 20 degrees to 40 degrees and above. This final short experimental protocol can be used to evaluate the neuromuscular performance of LBP patients with a minimal discomfort.

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