Correlations Between Individuals’ Characteristics and Spinal Stiffness in Individuals With and Without Back Pain: A Combined Analysis of Multiple Data Sets Pagé I, Swain M, Wong A, Breen A, De Carvalho D, Descarreaux M, Funabashi M Kawchuk G

Correlations Between Individuals’ Characteristics and Spinal Stiffness in Individuals With and Without Back Pain: A Combined Analysis of Multiple Data Sets

Pagé I1, Swain M2, Wong A3, Breen A4, De Carvalho D5, Descarreaux M5 , Funabashi M6, Kawchuk G7

1Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2Macquarie University, 3Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 4AECC University College, 5Memorial University of Newfoundland, 6Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, 7University of Alberta

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the correlations between individual characteristics and spinal stiffness as measured with different spinal stiffness measurement devices in individuals with and without back pain.

Methods: A secondary analysis of 3 adult data sets obtained using 3 different devices, in 2 spinal regions, from a total of 5 separate cross-sectional studies was conducted. Differences in spinal stiffness between men and women and in the strength of correlations among spinal stiffness and age and anthropometric characteristics were evaluated using either the t test for independent samples, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, or Kendall’s τ rank correlation coefficient.

Results: As expected, results varied between data sets; however, few factors had consistent correlations. Specifically, spinal stiffness was significantly lower in women than men in all 3 data sets. Height was positively correlated with spinal stiffness across all data sets. Although weight was correlated with thoracic stiffness, its correlation with lumbar stiffness varied. In 2 data sets, body mass index was inversely associated with lumbar spinal stiffness, whereas results from the thoracic spine region revealed a positive correlation. The results for 1 data set suggest that physiological measurement evaluating body weight distribution may also affect spinal stiffness; however, the specific correlation remains unclear.

Conclusion: Despite data set differences, significant correlations were observed, indicating that participants’ characteristics appear to affect spinal stiffness measurement. (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2018;41:734-752)

Key Indexing Terms: Back Pain; Association; Spine; Complementary Therapies

Originally published in the Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapeutics, Nov-Dec 2018;41(9):734-752.

Reproduced with permission from Elsevier.

Access Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2018.04.006