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 .
Specificity of a back muscle roman chair exercise in healthy and back pain subjects.
PURPOSE Roman chair exercises are popular for improving back muscle endurance but do not specifically target back muscles . This study aim ed to determine whether an adaptation of the Roman chair exercise would induce more fatigue in back muscles than in hip extensors . METHODS For this study , 16 healthy subjects and 18 patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain performed trunk flexion-extension cycles until exhaustion in a Roman chair with hips flexed at 40 ° . Surface EMG signals  were recorded bilaterally on four back muscles and two hip extensors ( gluteus maximus and biceps femoris ) . Motion analysis of the trunk segments ( pelvis , lumbar , and thoracic spines ) was also carried out . RESULTS In both groups , EMG revealed clear evidence of muscle fatigue for the gluteus maximus , less clear evidence of fatigue for the lower back muscles , and motor unit recruitment ( without fatigue ) for the upper back muscles and biceps femoris . A change of muscle activation pattern was emphasized throughout the exercise bout , with some lower back muscles showing an increase followed by a decrease or leveling off of activation and with upper back muscles showing an increased activation at the end . Kinematic analyses revealed a progressive decrease ( 11 ° ) in the lumbar range of motion ( ROM ) and a progressive increase in hip ( 2 ° ) and thoracic ( 7 ° ) ROM during the exercise bout . CONCLUSIONS Roman chairs allow more freedom to change the kinematics of the spine during the exercise ( less lumbar and more thoracic motion ) to delay lower back muscle fatigue by sharing the load between the lower and upper back muscles . Even with adaptations to reduce hip extensors fatigue , this may make this exercise not as specific as wanted for fatiguing lower back muscles
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 .