Comparison of postural sway between athletes with nonspecific chronic low back pain and healthy subjects

Postural control is the basic part of body movement performance and is needed for many everyday activities, particularly sport activities. Several factors can adversely affect efficiency of postural control system and decrease postural stability which results in increased postural sway. Among these factors, musculoskeletal disorders such as low back pain can be mentioned. Thus the purpose of this study was to compare postural sway in athletes with nonspecific chronic low back pain and healthy athletes. Postural sway of 68 athletes (34 nonspecific chronic low back pain and 34 healthy individuals) was examined by Zebris force distribution system in two conditions of standing with open and closed eyes. The independent t-test was used to analyze the data and compare between groups. Results showed a significant difference between athletes with nonspecific chronic low back pain and healthy ones in standing with open and closed eyes (P≤0.05). According to the results of this study, athletes with nonspecific chronic low back pain showed increased postural sway in two conditions of standing with open and closed eyes in comparison with healthy athletes. Measuring postural sway of athletes with nonspecific chronic low back pain is recommended to identify one of the most important risk factors of sport injuries in these athletes.