Anaerobic performance in patients with chronic low back pain 1

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders. Studies have shown certain relations between physical fitness and LBP by examining some measures of physical fitness. The aim of this study was to measure maximal anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity using Wingate anaerobic test in patients with chronic LBP versus healthy controls. Fifty four patients with chronic LBP (32 women, 22 men) and sixty healthy controls (30 women, 30 men) were enrolled in the study. The Wingate test was performed on a Monark 839E cycle ergometer. The peak power, the mean power and the fatigue index were calculated. The values of peak power (305.7 ± 100.4 and 519.9 ± 102.5 watt) and mean power (226.7 ± 50.7 and 408.9 ± 76.5 watt) in patients with chronic LBP were significantly lower than the values of peak power (367.1 ± 103.7 and 634.7 ± 109.7 watt) and mean power (273.6 ± 56.2 and 462.4 ± 49.5 watt) in healthy controls in women and men respectively. In males, the values of fatigue index in patients (38.6 ± 15.2%) were lower significantly than the fatigue index values in controls (49.5 ± 9.3%). In females, the values of fatigue index were not different significantly between patients and controls (37.7 ± 15.3% and 42.6 ± 16.0% respectively). Maximal anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity in patients with chronic LBP were lower than healthy controls. These findings contribute to clarify different aspects of physical fitness of patients with chronic LBP.