None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The key to the Clinical Pilates framework is to correctly identify a patient’s directional preference such that specific exercises can be prescribed. The current methods used by physiotherapist to assess directional preference rely on medical history, observation and clinical assessment. These approaches can be subjective and challenging for junior physiotherapists who have less clinical experience. To complement the current practice which requires strong clinical expertise, this study aims to develop objective methods to identify the directional preference of individual patients. In specific, we will evaluate the postural control using biomechanical instrumentation to quantify the quality of movement. It is hypothesized that the postural sway parameters during single-leg squats will correspond well with clinical ratings and assessment of directional preference.
Interventions
Participants will be prescribed exercises according to Dance Medicine Australia (DMA) Clinical Pilates method (supported by Australian Physiotherapy Association). A physiotherapist will be supervising the session, one-on-one. This is a single session intervention of 30 minutes (inclusive of directional preference assessment). The mat-based exercises prescribed will be specific for each participant based on his/her movement directional preference to achieve physical performance improvements. The exercises will be of low to moderate exercise intensity, measured with RPE 10-point scale. Examples of flexion preference exercises include cat stretch, bug legs and scissors, while examples of extension preference exercises include bridging, prone single leg kick and quadruped (leg). Lateral flexion preference exercises include mermaid and side lunges. Rotation preference exercises include bug roll (flexion) and attitude rotation (extension). The new assessment method involves the use of portable force plate to quantify the postural sway of a person between left and right leg single-leg squat performance (5 times on each side). This could help to assist in more accurate (objective) identification of side impairment as compared to traditional observations made by a clinician/assessor that is dependent on years of clinical experience (subjective). This would also allow the understanding of the clinical pilates method of side impairment identification which at times can be different from routine interpretation, for example better performance of single-leg squat on the left than the right may not always mean that the left is not the side with impairments.
Sponsors
National Institute of Education
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Primary purpose
Diagnosis
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
21 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
- Pain in the lower back with and without lower limb symptoms on most days of the week; - Pain in the lower back for >3 months (chronic); - Average pain in the past week greater than or equal to 4 points rated on the 11-point pain numeric rating scale (0 = no pain); and - Understands written and spoken English.
Exclusion criteria
- Recent spinal surgery (past 6 months); - On-going fever or infection; - Unexplained weight loss (>5% body weight) or loss of appetite; - Malignant cancer or received cancer intervention in the past 6 months; - Cauda equina lesion, complete loss of bladder or bowel control, or saddle paresthesia; - Known pregnancy at point of screening; - Recent spinal fractures (past 3 months); - Spinal inflammatory disease such as ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis; or - Recent exercise intervention for managing low back pain (past 6 months).
Outcome results
None listed