title: Aerobic fitness in women with chronic discogenic nonradicular low back pain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine if aerobic fitness varies between women with and without chronic discogenic non-radicular low back pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cross-sectional descriptive study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  : Analysis of variance revealed that maximal oxygen consumption was lower (P = 0.05) in women with low back pain compared with the control group. In addition, there was a significant reduction (P = 0.05) in reported exercise training duration and frequency but no change in exercise intensity (P = 0.1) in the study group after the onset of low back pain. The low back pain group had minimal disability (19%) based on the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women with chronic discogenic non-radicular low back pain have lower maximal oxygen consumption than age-matched controls. However, this study group continued to exercise safely at the same exercise training intensity as before their low back pain and had minimal disability and above-average aerobic fitness.
authors.affiliation: Women's Sports Medicine Program/Sports Medicine Center, Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Anne Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Hoch
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Press
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology