MEASURING TREATMENT EFFECTS ON REPETITIVE LIFTING FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LOW-BACK-PAIN - SPEED, STYLE, AND COORDINATION

The purpose of this study was to determine changes in the amount of wo rk performed and lifting speed, style, and coordination during a repet itive dynamic-lifting task for patients with chronic low back pain (CL BP) after an intensive 3 1/2-week pain rehabilitation program. Subject s included 57 CLBP patients and an age- and gender-matched control gro up (n = 57). Patients' work indices increased by 71%, but remained sig nificantly less than those observed for controls, Similarly, their lif ting speed also increased significantly after treatment, but remained slower than the lifting speed of controls. Patients' posttreatment coo rdination indices, however, were not significantly different from thos e of controls. This finding suggests that treatment effectively normal ized the dynamic lifting motion used by the patients. These findings, along with the basic kinematic patterns developed in this study, have important implications for determining improvements in functional capa city in the treatment of patients with CLBP.