Chronic non-specific low back pain and ankle proprioceptive acuity in community-dwelling older adults

Fangxin Xiao, Huub Maas, Jaap H. van Dieën, Adrian Pranata, Roger Adams, Jia Han*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Background: For people above 65 years old, low-back pain (LBP) is associated with balance problems and falls. Down-weighting of proprioception due to ageing and LBP may cause such balance problems. While lumbar proprioceptive deficits have been shown in LBP and indications for more generalized deficits have been found, ankle proprioception, which is crucial for balance control, has not been studied in people with LBP. Research question: Is there any difference in ankle proprioceptive acuity between community-dwelling older adults with and without LBP? We hypothesized that ankle proprioception was impaired in community-dwelling older adults with LBP compared to those without LBP. Methods: Thirty participants over 65 years old volunteered. Fifteen had LBP (M/F = 2/13, age = 72.0 (4.6) years), fifteen were healthy controls without back pain (control group) (M/F = 2/13, age = 72.1 (4.8) years). Ankle proprioception was measured in normal weight-bearing conditions, using the Active Movement Extent Discrimination Apparatus (AMEDA). Accuracy on the ankle proprioceptive test was expressed as absolute error (AE), constant error (CE) and variable error (VE). Results: AE was significantly larger (P = 0.029, 95 % CI = [0.00, 0.90]) in the LBP group, CE was also significantly larger (P = 0.046, 95 % CI = [-0.91, −0.01]), indicating an underestimation of ankle inversion in participants with LBP compared to controls. VE was not different between the two groups (P = 0.520, 95 % CI = [-0.20, 0.59]). No significant correlation was found between pain intensity and AE, CE or VE (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Ankle proprioception decreased in older people with LBP compared to healthy peers, suggesting impaired central proprioceptive processing. Older people with LBP underestimate the extent of ankle inversion, which may increase fall risk. Thus, evaluation and training of ankle proprioception may be useful in older people with LBP.

Original languageEnglish
Article number136806
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume786
Early online date16 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Aug 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study received funding from the Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader (grant number 20XD1423200), Program for Professors of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning (grant number TP2017062), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31870936), China Ministry of Education (Humanities and Social Science Project: grant number 18YJA890006), and China Scholarship Council (grant number 202008310141).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

This study received funding from the Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader (grant number 20XD1423200), Program for Professors of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning (grant number TP2017062), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31870936), China Ministry of Education (Humanities and Social Science Project: grant number 18YJA890006), and China Scholarship Council (grant number 202008310141).

Keywords

  • Ankle proprioception
  • Chronic non-specific low back pain
  • Elderly
  • Postural control
  • Stability

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