Lumbosacral Position Sense During Pelvic Tilting in Men and Women Without Low Back Pain: Test Development and Reliability Assessment

Simon Brumagne, Arthur Spaepen, Roeland Lysens

Study Design: A single group test-retest design to evaluate the reproducibility of lumbosacral position sense measurements. Objectives: To develop a measure of position sense in the lumbosacral area and to determine test-retest reliability. Background: Proprioception, muscle control, and coordination training could be the key issues in resolving neuromuscular dysfunction in patients with low back pain, but there are no standard ways to assess these parameters. Methods and Measures: A piezoresistive accelerometer attached to the skin over the sacrum was used to research the repositioning accuracy of active pelvic tilting, between days, of 14 young nonimpaired subjects (20 to 26 years of age) in standing. Results: The mean absolute error for repositioning accuracy (the difference between criterion and matching positions) was 1.81° (± 0.85). The intraclass correlation coefficient between measurements obtained on days 1 and 2 was moderate (R = 0.51). The average standard error of measurement associated with the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.5° (95% confidence interval = ± 0.99°). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the proposed test is sensitive with moderate test-retest reliability to examine lumbosacral position sense in healthy subjects. Further adjustments in the testing protocol are needed to improve the test-retest reliability. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 1999;29(6):345-351. Key Words: repositioning accuracy, accelerometer, low back

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