Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects

O'Sullivan, Kieran; O'Dea, Patrick; Dankaerts, Wim; O’Sullivan, Peter; Clifford, Amanda; O’Sullivan, Leonard

doi:10.1016/j.math.2010.06.005

« Previous Next »Manual Therapy
Volume 15, Issue 6 , Pages 557-561, December 2010

Neutral lumbar spine sitting posture in pain-free subjects

Kieran O'Sullivan
- Physiotherapy Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
- Corresponding author. Physiotherapy Department, University of Limerick, Ireland. Tel.: +353 61 234119; fax: +353 61 234251.
Patrick O'Dea
- Physiotherapy Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Wim Dankaerts
- Musculoskeletal Unit, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Health Care, Rehabilitation and Health Care Research Center, University College Limburg, Hasselt, Belgium
Peter O’Sullivan
- School of Physiotherapy, Curtin University of Technology, Perth WA6845, Australia
Amanda Clifford
- Physiotherapy Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Leonard O’Sullivan
- Department of Manufacturing and Operations Engineering, Physiotherapy Department, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

Received 8 January 2010; received in revised form 4 May 2010; accepted 14 June 2010. published online 20 July 2010.

Abstract

Sitting is a common aggravating factor in low back pain (LBP), and re-education of sitting posture is a common aspect of LBP management. However, there is debate regarding what is an optimal sitting posture. This pilot study had 2 aims; to investigate whether pain-free subjects can be reliably positioned in a neutral sitting posture (slight lumbar lordosis and relaxed thorax); and to compare perceptions of neutral sitting posture to habitual sitting posture (HSP). The lower lumbar spine HSP of seventeen pain-free subjects was initially recorded. Subjects then assumed their own subjectively perceived ideal posture (SPIP). Finally, 2 testers independently positioned the subjects into a tester perceived neutral posture (TPNP). The inter-tester reliability of positioning in TPNP was very good (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.91, mean difference=3% of range of motion). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that HSP was significantly more flexed than both SPIP and TPNP (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between SPIP and TPNP (p >0.05). HSP was more kyphotic than all other postures. This study suggests that pain-free subjects can be reliably positioned in a neutral lumbar sitting posture. Further investigation into the role of neutral sitting posture in LBP subjects is warranted.