The most commonly reported outcome was range of motion .
Interpretation : The literature to date offers limited and inconsistent evidence of kinematic/kinetic measures in low back pain patients that could be used clinical ly .
HighlightsCurrent low back pain assessment relies on subjective measures .Use of objective measures ( kinematics/kinetics ) is encouraged in low back pain assessment .This review highlights the heterogeneity of studies with low back pain and healthy subjects .
Background : Currently , there is a widespread reliance on self‐reported question naires to assess low back pain patients .
However , it has been suggested that objective measures of low back pain patients ' functional status should be used to aid clinical assessment .
The aim of this study is to systematic ally review which kinematic /kinetic parameters have been used to assess low back pain patients against healthy controls and to propose clinical kinematic/kinetic measures .
Pelvis-Thorax Coordination in the Transverse Plane During Walking in Persons With Nonspecific Low Back Pain
Study Design . Transverse pelvis and thorax rotations were studied during walking in 39 patients with nonspecific low back pain and 19 healthy participants . Objectives . To gain insight into the consequences of low back pain for gait and to identify clinical ly useful measures for characterizing the quality of walking in patients with low back pain . Summary of Background Data . Gait studies in patients with low back pain have reported a decrease in walking velocity . In normal gait , in-phase pelvis-thorax coordination ( synchronicity ) evolves toward antiphase coordination ( counterrotation ) as walking velocity increases . This study examined the effect of walking velocity on  pelvis and thorax rotations  in patients with low back pain . Methods .  Amplitudes of pelvis and thorax rotations  were calculated , and spectral analyses were performed . Pelvis-thorax coordination was characterized in terms of relative Fourier phase , and coupling strength was assessed by means of cross-spectral analysis . Results . In comparison with healthy participants , relative Fourier phase was significantly smaller in low back pain patients for walking velocities of 3.8 km/h and higher , whereas coupling strength was significantly higher for velocities from 1.4 to 3.0 km/h . No significant group differences were found in amplitude or spectral content of individual pelvis and thorax rotations . Conclusion . In comparison with healthy participants , the gait of patients with low back pain was characterized by a more rigid , less flexible pelvis-thorax coordination in the absence of significant differences in the kinematics of the component rotations . This result suggests that coordination measures are more adequate in assessing quality of walking in patients with low back pain than are kinematic measures pertaining to the individual segment rotations , and that conservative therapy should use methods aim ed at improving intersegmental coordination
The most commonly reported outcome was range of motion .
Interpretation : The literature to date offers limited and inconsistent evidence of kinematic/kinetic measures in low back pain patients that could be used clinical ly .
HighlightsCurrent low back pain assessment relies on subjective measures .Use of objective measures ( kinematics/kinetics ) is encouraged in low back pain assessment .This review highlights the heterogeneity of studies with low back pain and healthy subjects .
Background : Currently , there is a widespread reliance on self‐reported question naires to assess low back pain patients .
However , it has been suggested that objective measures of low back pain patients ' functional status should be used to aid clinical assessment .
The aim of this study is to systematic ally review which kinematic /kinetic parameters have been used to assess low back pain patients against healthy controls and to propose clinical kinematic/kinetic measures .