title: Movements at the low back during normal walking.
abstract: We present a technique for measuring the kinematics of the functional low back during normal gait. We have used a similar technique previously to measure low back movement simultaneously with hip, knee, and ankle movement during the toe-touching manoeuvre. We noted that movements at the low back were biphasic. The greatest low back movements were found to occur in the transverse plane (mean = 23 degrees), whereas a mean of 17 degrees movement occurred in the coronal plane and only 5 degrees movement in the sagittal plane. These findings confirm, using a non-invasive technique, that there are significant ranges of movement at the low back during walking and lend some support to the theory that rotational movement at the low back is a major component of human locomotion.
authors.affiliation: Gait Laboratory, Central Remedial Clinic, Clontarf, Dublin 3, Ireland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaliszer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jenkinson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001415:Back / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D009068:Movement; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*