Spinal segments do not move together predictably during daily activities.

The study included Forty volunteers, and the low back pain group had only minimal to moderate disability, so it may not reflect people with more severe pain. The low back pain group was 13 years older than the healthy group, so age may have influenced movement patterns. Skin movement over the spine may have changed the measured angles, although the authors note similar marker error would affect both groups. Only walking, sit-to-stand, and lifting were tested, so the findings may not apply to other activities. The authors used one classification rule for calling couplings weak or strong, and another rule could change the interpretation. They analysed four spine segments, not each vertebra, because motion capture and marker placement limit finer detail.

The authors declared nothing to declare.

Do not conclude that spinal segments never move together. Some adjacent segments were strongly correlated during particular tasks and planes; the finding is that the pattern is not predictable enough to assume redundancy.