The effect of long-term use of lumbar brace on the electromyography frequency spectrum of trunk and lower limbs in low back pain older adults with pronated feet during walking

Low back pain occurs between the lumbar vertebrae and the sacral bone and is affected by factors that often occur when trying to perform a particular operation or during a collision. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of long-term wearing of lumbar brace on the electromyography frequency spectrum of trunk and lower limbs in low back pain older adults with pronated feet during walking.

This research was of a semi-experimental type. Fifteen patients with low back pain and pronated feet were selected as an experimental group (age: 68.3 ± 2.7 years) and Fifteen patients with low back pain and pronated feet were selected as a control group (age: 69.0 ± 3.9 years).The lumbar brace used in this research was Sacro Lumbar Support, BB-OPPO 2065 model, Taiwans. The electrical activity of the lower limb and trunk muscles were recorded by the electromyography system during walking in both pre and post-test. All statistical analysis was done on SPSS software by two way ANOVA analyses test at significant level of 0.05.

The findings in the experimental group demonstrated that the frequency content of the gastrocnemius medialis muscle during post-test was significantly lower than that during the pre-test (P=0.002). Also, two external oblique (P=0.007) and rectus abdominus (P<0.001) muscles showed a significant increase in their frequency content during post-test than that in the test pre-test.

Results demonstrated that using of lumbar brace can increase abdominal muscle activity in patients with low back pain and pronated feet.