Lumbosacral position sense during pelvic tilting in men and women without low back pain: Test development and reliability assessment

Study design: A single group test-retest design to evaluate the reproducibi lity of lumbosacral position sense measurements. Objectives: To develop a measure of position sense in the lumbosacral area and to determine test-retest reliability. Background: Proprioception, muscle control, and coordination training could be the key issues in resolving neuromuscular dysfunction in patients with low back pain, but there are no standard ways to assess these parameters. Methods and Measures: A piezoresistive accelerometer attached to the skin o ver the sacrum was used to research the repositioning accuracy of active pe lvic tilting, between days, of 14 young nonimpaired subjects (20 to 26 year s of age) in standing. Results: The mean absolute error for repositioning accuracy (the difference between criterion and matching positions) was 1.81 degrees (+/- 0.85). The intraclass correlation coefficient between measurements obtained on days 1 and 2 was moderate (R = 0.51). The average standard error of measurement a ssociated with the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.5 degrees (95% confidence interval = +/- 0.99 degrees). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the proposed rest is sensitive wit h moderate test-retest reliability to examine lumbosacral position sense in healthy subjects. Further adjustments in the testing protocol are needed t o improve the test-retest reliability.