Project R-12836

Back To Back: the forgotten role of back muscle characteristics to tailor exercise therapy for recurrent non-specific low back pain (Research)

Non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide. During the past decade, research mainly focused on psychosocial causes of NSLBP (e.g., fear of movement), thereby reducing interest in biological causes (e.g., back muscle dysfunction). New insights into the characteristics of back muscles are, however, crucial. We hypothesize that patients with NSLBP show alterations in the back muscles at macroscopic (i.e., volume, fat fraction), microscopic (i.e., fiber types), hemodynamic (i.e., oxygenation), and electrophysiological (i.e., activation) level, which are interrelated and underlie impaired back muscle proprioception in this population. This will be examined by three objectives: (1) To assess the reliability and validity of 3D freehand ultrasound to measure macroscopic characteristics of the back muscles, (2) To assess macroscopic, microscopic, hemodynamic as well as electrophysiological back muscle characteristics in patients with NSLBP and healthy controls, their interrelatedness, and their correlation with back muscle proprioception, to delineate phenotypes, (3) To assess, by proof-of-concept, the reversibility of different back muscle characteristics by tailored exercise therapy in patients with NSLBP.

01 January 2022 - 31 December 2025