Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Basic Science

Purposes : To compare the difference in repositioning accuracy between low back dysfunction and healthy subjects , and to investigate the difference in the degree of repositioning accuracy in relation to the cause of low back dysfunctionStudy Design : A control group one - shot studySubjects and methods : Forty - five subjects from both sexes were involved , aged between 30 - 50 yearsThey were divided into three equal groupsSubjects in the first group were normal healthy subjectsSubjects in the second group had a history of non - specific mechanical low back dysfunction , while subjects in the third group had discogenic low back dysfunctionBiodex system 3 pro isokinetic dynamometer , equipped with a special forward reclined back attachment , was used to measure the lumbar repositioning accuracy of the lumbar regionSubjects were required to reproduce a target position (30? flexion) The mean deviation or absolute error (AE) about the 30{u00B0} target position was calculated for each subjectResults : The study revealed that there were significant differences in the repositioning accuracy among the three groupsThe Absolute errors were greater in the two low back dysfunction groups than in the control groupOn the other hand , there were no significant differences in the repositioning accuracy between the two low back dysfunction groupsDiscussion : The healthy subjects repositioned their back more accurately to the target positionWhile , the low back dysfunction groups had a significantly larger absolute errorConclusion : Differences in proprioception do exist between subjects with back dysfunction and normal subjectsThe proprioceptive deficits do exist regardless to the cause of the back dysfunction

Issued also as CD