Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects

Sitting is a common aggravating factor in low back pain (LBP), and re-education of sitting posture is a common aspect of LBP management. However, there is debate regarding what is an optimal sitting posture. This pilot study had 2 aims; to investigate whether pain-free subjects can be reliably posit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: O'Sullivan, K., O'Dea, P., Dankaerts, Wim, O'Sullivan, Peter, Clifford, A., O'Sullivan, L.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Churchill Livingstone 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46108
_version_ 1848757468574777344
author O'Sullivan, K.
O'Dea, P.
Dankaerts, Wim
O'Sullivan, Peter
Clifford, A.
O'Sullivan, L.
author_facet O'Sullivan, K.
O'Dea, P.
Dankaerts, Wim
O'Sullivan, Peter
Clifford, A.
O'Sullivan, L.
author_sort O'Sullivan, K.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Sitting is a common aggravating factor in low back pain (LBP), and re-education of sitting posture is a common aspect of LBP management. However, there is debate regarding what is an optimal sitting posture. This pilot study had 2 aims; to investigate whether pain-free subjects can be reliably positioned in a neutral sitting posture (slight lumbar lordosis and relaxed thorax); and to compare perceptions of neutral sitting posture to habitual sitting posture (HSP). The lower lumbar spine HSP of seventeen pain-free subjects was initially recorded. Subjects then assumed their own subjectively perceived ideal posture (SPIP). Finally, 2 testers independently positioned the subjects into a tester perceived neutral posture (TPNP). The inter-tester reliability of positioning in TPNP was very good (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.91, mean difference = 3% of range of motion). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that HSP was significantly more flexed than both SPIP and TPNP (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between SPIP and TPNP (p >0.05). HSP was more kyphotic than all other postures. This study suggests that pain-free subjects can be reliably positioned in a neutral lumbar sitting posture. Further investigation into the role of neutral sitting posture in LBP subjects is warranted.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:28:34Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-46108
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:28:34Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Churchill Livingstone
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-461082019-02-19T04:27:52Z Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects O'Sullivan, K. O'Dea, P. Dankaerts, Wim O'Sullivan, Peter Clifford, A. O'Sullivan, L. Lumbar spine Sitting Posture Sitting is a common aggravating factor in low back pain (LBP), and re-education of sitting posture is a common aspect of LBP management. However, there is debate regarding what is an optimal sitting posture. This pilot study had 2 aims; to investigate whether pain-free subjects can be reliably positioned in a neutral sitting posture (slight lumbar lordosis and relaxed thorax); and to compare perceptions of neutral sitting posture to habitual sitting posture (HSP). The lower lumbar spine HSP of seventeen pain-free subjects was initially recorded. Subjects then assumed their own subjectively perceived ideal posture (SPIP). Finally, 2 testers independently positioned the subjects into a tester perceived neutral posture (TPNP). The inter-tester reliability of positioning in TPNP was very good (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.91, mean difference = 3% of range of motion). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that HSP was significantly more flexed than both SPIP and TPNP (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between SPIP and TPNP (p >0.05). HSP was more kyphotic than all other postures. This study suggests that pain-free subjects can be reliably positioned in a neutral lumbar sitting posture. Further investigation into the role of neutral sitting posture in LBP subjects is warranted. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46108 10.1016/j.math.2010.06.005 Churchill Livingstone fulltext
spellingShingle Lumbar spine
Sitting
Posture
O'Sullivan, K.
O'Dea, P.
Dankaerts, Wim
O'Sullivan, Peter
Clifford, A.
O'Sullivan, L.
Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
title Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
title_full Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
title_fullStr Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
title_full_unstemmed Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
title_short Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
title_sort neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects
topic Lumbar spine
Sitting
Posture
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46108