Effect of low back pain on the muscles controlling the sitting posture.
Ryo Fujitani, Takumi Jiroumaru, Shinichi Noguchi and 4 others
PMID 33814719WHAT IT FOUND
Slump sitting fails to relax back muscles in people with recurrent low back pain.
While healthy adults showed reduced muscle activity, those with pain kept their trunk muscles highly active. This posture may increase spinal stress rather than provide rest for patients with pain.
Key findings
01In healthy adults, slump sitting significantly reduced muscle activity in the external oblique, internal oblique, thoracic erector spinae, lumbar erector spinae, lumbar multifidus, iliopsoas, and upper gluteus maximus compared to upright sitting.
02In adults with recurrent low back pain, slump sitting did not reduce activity in the thoracic erector spinae, upper gluteus maximus, or iliopsoas, and they maintained higher trunk muscle activity than healthy adults.
03Both groups showed similar changes in spinal and pelvic angles during slump sitting, indicating that the lack of muscle relaxation in the pain group was not due to a difference in posture.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Small sample size (21 participants total). Cross-sectional comparison of two postures, not a longitudinal intervention study. Participants were young (mean age ~22 years), limiting generalizability to older adults. Only seated positions were tested; standing and dynamic movements were not assessed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the similar spinal angles in both groups as evidence that slump sitting is equally safe or relaxing for patients with low back pain. The muscle activity data shows that patients with pain maintain high trunk muscle tension, which healthy individuals do not.