Association between low back pain and functional/kinetic aspects of surfers: disability, function, flexibility, range of motion and angle of the thoracic and lumbar spine

ABSTRACT Although surfing can contribute to chronic low backpain, the relationship between functional/kinetic changes and low back pain are still not fully understood. The association between low back pain and functional/kinetic aspects was investigated in people who had surfed for different numbers of years, in a cross-sectional study involving 66 surfers from the coast of Paraná. The participants were allocated into three groups considering how long they had surfed: G1 (up to 4.9 years), G2 (from 5 to 9.9 years) and G3 (more than 10 years). The following items were evaluated: body mass index; level of physical activity; low back pain; intensity and frequency of low back pain, low back disability, low back function, low back flexibility, low back range of motion, low back and thoracic angles. To analyze the association between functional/kinetic aspects and low back pain, Pearson’s Qui-Square test was used for categorical data, while for nominal data ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post-hoc test (p<0.05) was used. The group which had surfed the longest (G3) showed an association with the occurrence of low back pain (p=0.05) and its highest intensity (p=0.01). The group with 5 to 9.9 years of surfing (G2) showed the largest low back angle (p=0.04). We conclude that the surfer’s chronic low back pain is associated with greater pain intensity, the angle of the lumbar curvature and how long the person has surfed.

摘要 尽管冲浪可诱发慢性下腰痛，但功能与动能变化同下腰痛之间的关联仍未得到充分阐明。本研究针对来自巴拉那州海岸的66名冲浪者开展横断面研究，旨在探讨不同冲浪年限人群的下腰痛与功能、动能特征之间的关联。根据冲浪时长将参与者分为三组：G1组（≤4.9年）、G2组（5~9.9年）及G3组（≥10年）。本次研究评估的指标包括：体质量指数、体力活动水平、下腰痛发生情况、腰痛强度与频率、腰椎功能障碍程度、腰椎功能、腰椎柔韧性、腰椎活动范围，以及腰椎与胸椎角度。为分析功能与动能特征和下腰痛的关联，分类数据采用皮尔逊卡方检验（Pearson’s Chi-Square Test），名义数据则采用方差分析（Analysis of Variance, ANOVA）结合Bonferroni事后检验，检验水准设定为p<0.05。研究结果显示，冲浪年限最长的G3组，其下腰痛发生率（p=0.05）与最高疼痛强度（p=0.01）均存在显著关联；冲浪年限为5~9.9年的G2组，其腰椎角度最大（p=0.04）。本研究得出结论：冲浪者的慢性下腰痛与更高的疼痛强度、腰椎曲度角度，以及更长的冲浪年限存在关联。