Aasa B.1, Aasa U.1
1Umea University, Umeå, Sweden
Background: Back pain is a common disorder that affects the cortical reorganisation, which might lead to a change in proprioception and sensibilty regarding tactile stimulation.
Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between results from a two-point dicrimination test and the results from a motor control test battery in patients with mechanical low back pain. A second aim was to investigae the effects of high- and low-load motor control training on two-point discrimination ability.
Methods: Seventy patients with nociceptive mechanical low back pain were randomized to high- or low-load motor control training. Participants were offered 12 treatment sessions over and 8-week period. All participants were also provided with education regarding pain mechanisms. Each participant completed a two-point discrimination test and a battery of seven motor control tests at baseline and after completion of the training period. A caliper that was placed horizontally on segments L2-L5 was used to investigate the two-point discrimination ability. Spearman´s correlation analysis was used to determine the association between two-point discrimination ability and motor control testing. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare efficacy between groups over time.
Results: Two-point discrimionation ability improved significantly over time in both groups (p≤0.001) with no differences between groups (p=0.539). A baseline, there was no correlation between motor control testbattery performance and the results of the two-point discrimination ability (rs=0.037).
Conclusion(s): There seem to be no correlations between performance in a motor control test battery and two-point discrimination ability in patients with nociceptive mechanical low back pain. Patients with mechanical low back pain improve in two-point discrimination ability after both high- and low-load motor control training.
Implications: Training that focus on the ability to control movements in the back seems to positively affect two-point discrimination ability.
Funding acknowledgements: No
Topic: Musculoskeletal: spine
Ethics approval: The study protocol was approved by The Regional Ethical Review Board in Umeå (No. 09-200M).
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
