Reference values of lumbar spine range of motion by sex and age based on the assessment of supine trunk lateral bending-A preliminary study

• Published in: FUKUSHIMA JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 25 - 33
• Main Authors: Watanabe, Kazuyuki, Konno, Shinichi, Nakanishi, Shigetaka, Hakozaki, Michiyuki, Oi, Naoyuki, Ouchi, Kazuo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan THE FUKUSHIMA SOCIETY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE 01.01.2024; The Fukushima Society of Medical Science
• Subjects: lateral bending exercise; lumbar disc herniation; Lumbar spine; Original; radiography; range of motion; radiography; Lumbar spine; lateral bending exercise; lumbar disc herniation; range of motion
• ISSN: 0016-2590; 2185-4610
• DOI: 10.5387/fms.2023-24

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify the preliminary reference values for the lumbar spine range of motion associated with lateral bending exercises by gender and age group. [Methods] Subjects were 82 volunteers without low back pain, including five males and five females in each age group from 16-19 to 80-89 years. All subjects underwent radiographs of the lumbar spine with lateral flexion; the range of lateral flexion of the vertebrae from T12 to the sacrum (ROLB) was measured twice by three observers. [Results] The ROLB of the entire T12-S1 of all subjects showed a significant negative correlation with age in both sexes (p < 0.01). The ROLB of the lumbar spine tended to be greater in females, with a statistically significant difference between those aged 16-19 and 70-79 (p < 0.05). Lateral flexion angles for each intervertebral segment were largest at L3-L4 and smallest at L5-S1 (0.7°). [Conclusion] Lumbar ROLB reference values were examined by gender and age group; ROLB was greatest in L3-L4, and ROLB tended to be lower in older age groups.