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Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of lower back pain (LBP) in the running population and any initiating or aggravating factors. The aetiology of low back pain in runners was also investigated. A random sample population of 225 roadrunners were interviewed following the completion...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Division of Physiotherapy
2018
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| _version_ | 1867614219924406272 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Lewis, Grant |
| author2 | Schwellnus, Martin P |
| author_browse | Lewis, Grant Schwellnus, Martin P |
| author_facet | Schwellnus, Martin P Lewis, Grant |
| author_sort | Lewis, Grant |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of lower back pain (LBP) in the running population and any initiating or aggravating factors. The aetiology of low back pain in runners was also investigated. A random sample population of 225 roadrunners were interviewed following the completion of six local road races. A further subgroup (n = 52) (LBP group as well as control group) of these runners was evaluated to determine if there were any biomechanical; muscle strength, flexibility and stability measures; as well as any training protocols which were more commonly associated in those runners who complained of LBP. Questionnaires were completed by 225 runners and a detailed clinical evaluation was performed to identify the incidence and aetiology of running-related lower back pain. Attention was focussed on the lumbar-pelvic muscles in terms of their flexibility, strength and coordinating ability as well as static biomechanical measures of the lower limb. LBP in runners was found to be common with an injury risk of 1.42 injuries per 1000 running hours. This running-related LBP seldom forced the athlete to stop running yet did affect running performance. It was associated with any increase in the running load. Hip flexor inflexibility on the left (p = 0.07); short hip adductor muscle length (p = 0.055), hamstring inflexibility (p = 0.09) and iliotibial band inflexibility (p = 0.036) on the right were found to be more common in the LBP group. The abdominal muscles were weaker in the LBP group when assessed in the trunk curl-up test (p = 0.0085) and the stabilising ability (p = 0.032) for this group was judged to be poor. Biomechanically, only a marginal difference was found between those with and without LBP (p = 0.077) with regard to the hindfoot and forefoot postures which were valgus and varus respectively for the lower back pain group. Lumbar intervertebral joints were mostly hypomobile (p = 0.004) in the LBP group. Adherence to a poor training regime (excessive running distances and frequencies) was associated with the LBP group. Attention to correct training patterns and adequate muscle control (strength, coordination and flexibility) is suggested to protect from this running-related LBP. Further research into a comparison of rehabilitation protocols is required to validate these findings. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26924 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:48:34.497Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | Division of Physiotherapy |
| publisherStr | Division of Physiotherapy |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26924 Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners Lewis, Grant Schwellnus, Martin P Sole, Gisela Sports Physiotherapy The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of lower back pain (LBP) in the running population and any initiating or aggravating factors. The aetiology of low back pain in runners was also investigated. A random sample population of 225 roadrunners were interviewed following the completion of six local road races. A further subgroup (n = 52) (LBP group as well as control group) of these runners was evaluated to determine if there were any biomechanical; muscle strength, flexibility and stability measures; as well as any training protocols which were more commonly associated in those runners who complained of LBP. Questionnaires were completed by 225 runners and a detailed clinical evaluation was performed to identify the incidence and aetiology of running-related lower back pain. Attention was focussed on the lumbar-pelvic muscles in terms of their flexibility, strength and coordinating ability as well as static biomechanical measures of the lower limb. LBP in runners was found to be common with an injury risk of 1.42 injuries per 1000 running hours. This running-related LBP seldom forced the athlete to stop running yet did affect running performance. It was associated with any increase in the running load. Hip flexor inflexibility on the left (p = 0.07); short hip adductor muscle length (p = 0.055), hamstring inflexibility (p = 0.09) and iliotibial band inflexibility (p = 0.036) on the right were found to be more common in the LBP group. The abdominal muscles were weaker in the LBP group when assessed in the trunk curl-up test (p = 0.0085) and the stabilising ability (p = 0.032) for this group was judged to be poor. Biomechanically, only a marginal difference was found between those with and without LBP (p = 0.077) with regard to the hindfoot and forefoot postures which were valgus and varus respectively for the lower back pain group. Lumbar intervertebral joints were mostly hypomobile (p = 0.004) in the LBP group. Adherence to a poor training regime (excessive running distances and frequencies) was associated with the LBP group. Attention to correct training patterns and adequate muscle control (strength, coordination and flexibility) is suggested to protect from this running-related LBP. Further research into a comparison of rehabilitation protocols is required to validate these findings. 2018-01-24T11:48:24Z 2018-01-24T11:48:24Z 1999 Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26924 eng application/pdf Division of Physiotherapy Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Sports Physiotherapy Lewis, Grant Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| title_full | Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| title_fullStr | Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| title_full_unstemmed | Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| title_short | Incidence, prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| title_sort | incidence prevalence and aetiology of chronic exercise induced lower back pain in runners |
| topic | Sports Physiotherapy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26924 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lewisgrant incidenceprevalenceandaetiologyofchronicexerciseinducedlowerbackpaininrunners |