Supervisors info:
Μπουντόλος Κ., Καθηγητής, ΣΕΦΑΑ, ΕΚΠΑ
Ρουσάνογλου Ε., Καθηγήτρια, ΣΕΦΑΑ, ΕΚΠΑ
Κοσκολού Μ., Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, ΣΕΦΑΑ, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Musculoskeletal disorders of the spine (MDS) and especially those associated with the lumbar region (LR) constitute the most common, non-deadly pathogeny worldwide. The discomfort-pain in the LR is acknowledged among the first, as a cause of disability in the workplace and is expected to affect up to 90% of the population at some time-point in a person’s lifespan (Marras, 2000; Brennan et al., 2007). Amongst the attempts to demonstrate modes of assessment of the intensity of pain and the interaction with persons’ functionality, many scales have been constructed by means of questionnaires, of general or specific types. Several studies have focused on the adult population, whereas no respective studies exist for young persons that are being exposed to multiple risks, such as static positions, use of non-ergonomic equipment, excessive loads etc. The purpose of the study was to examine the role of sex in the assessment of musculoskeletal disorders (MD) in young people with a focus on the spine and particularly the LR. In the study’s first stage, 259 students (116 - 45% males and 143 - 55% females) completed a constructed questionnaire (of general and specific items) that was based on the modified questionnaire by Kuorinka et al. (1987), with 3738 citations. In the second stage, 39 subjects derived from the previous sample (19 with and 20 without discomfort-pain in LR) participated in measurements of lifting an object weighing 15 kg for the male and 10 kg for the female subjects (17 to 20% of BM) located on a Kistler F/P (1000 Hz, 60 × 40 cm, Type 9286ΑΑ, BioWare Software v.3.2.6.104, Winterthur, Switzerland). Each subject performed three (3) lifting trials and the recorded Ground Reaction Forces were analysed in three dimensions. Statistical analysis, for the study’s first stage, was based on the χ2 criterion for two categorical variables to test if Sex was associated with the Discomfort-Pain (D-P) in various areas of the spine or alternatively whether the tendency for D-P differs between sexes (Vagenas, 2019). The study’s second stage included a GLM Analysis of Variance with Sex and D-P as fixed factors and trials as the within-subjects factor to test for possible differences (p<.05).
The results showed: a) the largest % D-P dominated the LR (54.4%) with no significant difference for sex, whereas the Cervical Area with a 32.8% of D-P was significantly different between males and females, with females exhibiting a double percentage compared with males (22.4 vs 10.4%), b) 26.6% of the subjects discontinued to attend their classes (18.9% of males vs 32.6% of females) with a significant difference with regards to sex, as well as c) asked for support (medical, physical therapy, pharmaceutical etc) and 37.3% received it (males 12.7% vs females 24.6%) with a significant difference with regards to sex. Further, significant differences with regards to sex were found in the kinetics of lifting an object in critical 3D parameters of the GRF, as well as in the integral and the resultant Fz GRF. In conclusion, the MD show an asymmetric distribution among the spine’s various regions, with the LR being the dominant one and as a critical area of the body demonstrating a differentiation with regards to sex in the need for support and the non-attendance of educational lessons.
Keywords:
low back pain, chronic pain, kinetics of lifting, between-sex differences
