Abstract

Low back pain is the most common cause of physical disabilities and the reason for a large proportion of sick leave days.
The aim of this study is to determine whether changes in trunk muscle activity and pain modulation mechanisms play a role in the evolution of functional disabilities in a group of workers who have experienced at least one recent, significant episode of low back pain.
A cohort of 150 workers with a history of non-specific low back pain will be recruited for this study. Over an 18-month period, they will participate in three laboratory evaluations in which various neuromechanical parameters will be measured. They will also have to take part in an ongoing clinical evaluation during the same period, in which the evolution in their clinical pain and functional disabilities, among other things, will be assessed every two months. The clinical and neuromechanical parameters obtained will then be integrated into a statistical model, which the researchers will use to attempt to determine the predictors of low back disability in a worker population.
The data generated should make it possible not only to study the impact of motor variability and the pain sensitivity profile on functional disabilities, but also to confirm the role of neuromechanical adaptations in the natural evolution of low back pain.