The measurement of lumbar spinal curvature in normal Thai population aged 20-69 years using flexible ruler

Abstract

Low back pain is one of the most common problems that could be found in a working age group. One of the causes of low back pain is increase or decrease of lumbar spinal curvature. Most clinicians and physical therapists always assesse lumbar spinal curvature as a part of physical examination in back pain patients, however, to date, information on the normal lumbar spinal curvature in each aged group is limited. The purposes of this study were to measure lumbar spinal curvatures in a normal population and compare them among genders and different age groups. Three hundred subjects, aged between 20-69 years, who had no history of low back pain and/or adjacent joint were included in this study. They were stratified into five age groups and sixty subjects in each group. The lumbar spinal curvature of each subject was measured by a physical therapist using a flexible ruler for three consecutive times. The mean value of the three measurements in each subject was used for analysis. The study demonstrated that the mean and standard deviation of the lumbar spinal curvature, in 20-29 years was 51.68 ± 6.94 degrees, in 30-39 years  was 59.67 ± 7.02 degrees ,in 40-49 years was 63.66 ± 7.62 degrees, in 50-59 years was 65.75 ± 10.85 degrees and in 60-69 years was 64.19 ± 9.69 degrees. This study also found that the lumbar spinal curvature in the age group of 20-29 was significantly smaller than the other groups (P < 0.01). The result also showed that female subjects had the lumbar spinal curvature significant greater than male subjects in 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 age groups (P < 0.01). These results indicated that, the lumbar spinal curvature was different among aged groups and genders. Clinicians may considerably use these data on lumbar spinal curvatures for assessing low back pain patients.