Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: December | Volume: 9 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 68-73
Reduced Ventilatory Muscle Strength- A Risk Associated With Low Back Pain- A Case-Control Study
Isha Shripad1, Razia Nagarwala2, Ashok K. Shyam3, Parag K. Sancheti4
1MPT, 2MPT, HOD and professor,
Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
3MS.Ortho, Research Officer, 4MS.Ortho, Chairman,
Sancheti Institute for Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Corresponding Author: Razia Nagarwala
ABSTRACT
Background: Non-specific low back pain, which is not attributed to any recognizable cause, is the most common form of low back pain. When this pain persists, it becomes chronic and tends to develop compensatory patterns. These biomechanical alterations have shown to have an association with the respiratory system which has been documented in many studies. However, due to the dearth of literature and contrasting evidences, the present study aimed to find out an objective relationship between the presence of low back pain and reduced ventilatory muscle strength using a reliable and non-invasive technique such as MIP and MEP.
Methods:
Using convenient sampling technique, 60 subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited and were divided into two groups of 30 each. Group A included individuals with mechanical low back pain and group B included healthy individuals. Each individual was subjected for the assessment of Maximum Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Maximum Expiratory Pressure (MEP)
Results: The results were obtained using Chi-Square test for presence of low back pain and reduced ventilatory muscle strength which did not show a significant difference with p = 0.69 for MIP and for MEP, p=0.67 with α set at 95%.
Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that the respiratory muscle strength is not affected in patients with non-specific, chronic mechanical low back pain.
Key words: mechanical low back pain, maximal inspiratory pressure, respiratory muscle strength