Physiotherapy - Theses
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ItemNeuromuscular and biomechanical adaptations associated with chronic low back pain( 2016)Neuromuscular adaptations are a hallmark presentation of chronic low back pain (CLBP). People with CLBP have demonstrated trunk muscle co-contraction, trunk muscle weakness and decreased lumbar range of motion (ROM). The relationship between traditional neuromuscular assessments (e.g., lumbar ROM or trunk muscle strength) and self-reported disability is low. Arguably, the measurement of trunk ROM and trunk muscle strength are non-specific and cannot adequately explain the variances in disability in CLBP. Perhaps novel assessments assessing different domains of neuromuscular adaptations can better explain variances in self-reported disability in people with CLBP. Novel assessment of knee muscle force control demonstrated an impairment in the quadriceps ability to produce an accurate force in anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed (ACLR) population compared to healthy cohort. The assessment of muscle force control has not been performed in the CLBP cohort. Similarly, the assessment of inter-joint coordination using relative phase angle analysis was originally developed to identify safe lifting technique in manual workers but has not been performed in CLBP cohort. Therefore the aims of this thesis were i) to compare CLBP and healthy participants on novel trunk muscle force control assessment, ii) to compare CLBP and healthy participants on the assessment of lifting inter-joint coordination and iii) to investigate the relationship between self-reported disability and the aforementioned novel neuromuscular assessments in people with CLBP. To address these aims, four cross-sectional studies were conducted. Forty three participants with CLBP (mean Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) = 22.1 ± 13.2, mean pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) = 3.6 ± 1.9) and 29 matched healthy control participants were recruited. Inter-session reliability were assessed on 17 CLBP participants and 16 healthy participants. Study 1 compared and described the participant characteristics with respect to pain and self-reported disability quantified using NRS and ODI respectively. The findings demonstrated that people with CLBP reported significantly higher level of pain and disability than healthy participants. Incidentally, CLBP participants were nine years older than healthy people. Study 2 compared lumbar extensor maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and lumbar extensor muscle force control in people with CLBP and healthy people using a novel force matching protocol adapted from studies in the quadriceps. The assessment protocol utilised a force target varied between 20%-50% MVIC (i.e., increasing and decreasing force output). No significant differences in lumbar extensor MVIC were evident between the groups. CLBP group demonstrated increased force matching error compared to healthy people, suggestive of impairment in lumbar extensor muscle force control. People with CLBP demonstrated more error when increasing force production compared to when decreasing force production. Study 3 compared kinematic and vertical ground reaction force assessment during a lifting task in people with and without CLBP. Participants with CLBP were characterised based on their disability phenotype (i.e., higher and lower disability). In addition to the measurement of trunk and lower limb ROM and angular velocity, trunk and lower limb joint coordination was assessed using relative phase angle analysis. There was no significant difference in trunk and lower limb ROM and angular velocity between all groups. Both groups demonstrated similar lifting trunk and lower limb joint coordination pattern and vertical ground reaction force pattern. However, people with CLBP took longer to lift a light load compared to healthy controls. Study 4 investigated the relationship between the assessments outlined in Studies 2 and 3 and ODI. There was no significant correlation between lumbar extensor MVIC, trunk and lower limb ROM and angular velocity during lifting and ODI. One unit increase in error when decreasing force production was associated with 47% increase in ODI. Similarly, one second increase in coordinated movement duration between the thorax and lumbar spine was associated with 47% increase in ODI. The amount of error when decreasing force output and duration of coordinated movement between the thorax and lumbar spine explained 27% of ODI variance. The findings of this thesis suggest that the assessment of lumbar extensor muscle force control and inter-joint coordination during lifting explain a significant portion of self-reported disability; thus, these measures are valid for CLBP patients. Future research is required to investigate whether improvement in the novel neuromuscular variables are associated with a decrease in self-reported disability.
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ItemBiomechanical and neuromuscular impairments in individuals with gluteal tendinopathy( 2016)Gluteal Tendinopathy (GT) is a typically chronic, recalcitrant cause of lateral hip pain most commonly seen in women aged 40 to 70 years. The condition involves pathology of the gluteus minimus and/or gluteus medius tendons at or above their insertion into the greater trochanter of the femur. Clinically, symptomatic GT presents as pain around the greater trochanter, aggravated during single leg loading in walking and stair climbing, and can have a major impact on function. Based on clinical observation it has been hypothesized that individuals with GT exhibit altered biomechanics and neuromuscular control during single leg loading tasks; specifically increased pelvic drop and hip adduction, which might modify gluteal tendon loading at the greater trochanter contributing to the development and/or perpetuation of the condition. However, despite clinical assessment and treatment for GT often being based on these presumed impairments, little is known about the biomechanical or neuromuscular impairments in individuals with GT. Given evidence of muscle weakness in other lower limb tendinopathies, and that strengthening exercise appears to be an effective management strategy for tendinopathy, Study 1 aimed to establish whether individuals with GT exhibit hip abductor muscle strength deficits when compared to pain-free controls. Interestingly, not only did Study 1 identify hip abductor weakness of the symptomatic hip when compared to the asymptomatic hip and to controls, bilateral hip abductor weakness was identified in individuals with GT when compared to controls. The primary functional role of the hip abductor muscles is to maintain alignment of the pelvis in the frontal plane during single leg loading. Given that single leg stance (SLS) is often assessed visually by clinicians to evaluate hip abductor function, Study 2 aimed (1) to quantify trunk, pelvic and hip kinematics in preparation for, and during, a SLS task in those with and without GT, and (2) evaluate the effect of hip abductor muscle strength on these kinematics. Results from Study 2 showed that in contrast to pain-free controls, individuals with GT exhibit greater lateral translation of the pelvis and hip adduction in preparation for SLS; and more hip adduction and less pelvic elevation during SLS. Hip abductor strength appeared to be a key determinant of these kinematic differences, as when adjusting for strength in our analysis only between-group differences in lateral pelvic shift persisted. As altered kinematics of the hip and pelvis were identified in SLS, and walking is a typically provocative functional single leg loading task for those with GT, Study 3 aimed to evaluate kinematics and kinetics of the trunk, hip and pelvis during walking gait. This was the first study to evaluate walking kinematics and kinetics in individuals with GT using three-dimensional gait analysis. Results showed that, in contrast to pain-free controls, individuals with GT exhibited a greater external hip adduction moment throughout the stance phase of walking as well as greater contralateral trunk lean at the time of the first peak hip adduction moment and greater contralateral pelvic drop at the time of the second peak hip adduction moment. Contralateral pelvic drop was significantly correlated with the first and second peak hip adduction moments, and hip adduction angle with the second peak hip adduction moment in those with GT, providing some insight into potential modifiable kinematic patterns underpinning their greater external hip adduction moment. Finally, post-hoc analysis identified two subgroups with opposite trunk and pelvic strategies within the GT group. Taken together, these findings suggest that evaluation of the trunk and pelvis during clinical observation of gait is warranted in order to identify specific maladaptive gait patterns. A greater external hip adduction moment, identified in Study 3, infers a greater demand on the hip abductor muscles, including the gluteus medius and minimus muscles and the overlying muscles that insert into the iliotibial band (ITB). On this basis Study 4 aimed to evaluate the independent and synergistic characteristics of hip abductor muscle activation during walking using electromyography (EMG). This study highlighted altered muscle activity in the posterior gluteus minimus and middle gluteus medius muscle segments during stance phase in individuals with GT, characterized by greater activity continued into mid-stance, compared to controls. Further to this, individuals with GT exhibited less within-participant variability of the posterior gluteus minimus and less between-participant variability in the anterior gluteus minimus and medius segments and upper gluteus maximus when compared to controls. For both groups, synergy analysis identified two muscle synergies during the stance phase of gait. However, differing levels of contribution from the tensor fascia lata muscle to each synergy was observed between those with and without GT. Taken with a greater external hip adduction moment, modified distribution of activity within the gluteal muscle segments and the tensor fascia lata, which generates tension in the ITB via it’s insertion, has the potential to modify gluteal tendon loading. Compressive forces from the tension in the overlying ITB and the greater trochanter below on the gluteal tendons could have potentially negative tendon effects. Lastly, Study 5 investigated kinematics and kinetics of the trunk, hip and pelvis during a step up task. Similar, to the findings of Study 3, parameters of the external hip adduction moment were consistently greater in those with GT during the stance phase of stair ascent. Based on the patterns of the external hip adduction moment, three subgroups were identified in both the GT and control groups, with individuals with GT 4.5 times more likely to have an external hip adduction moment characteristic of a large impulse, greater lateral pelvic translation and less pelvic obliquity at heel strike than the subgroup most likely to contain controls. The studies outlined in this thesis are the first to report strength, kinematic, kinetic and EMG findings in individuals with symptomatic GT in contrast to pain-free controls. Differences were identified in: hip abductor strength; kinematics during SLS, gait and step up tasks; kinetics during walking and step up; and neuromuscular control of the hip abductor muscles during walking. These findings imply that the gluteal tendons might be experiencing modified tensile and compressive loads in those with GT, with implications for tendon health. Given the cross-sectional study design it is not possible to determine whether these differences preceded or followed GT, but it is possible that restoration of muscle strength and normal kinematics may be beneficial for recovery. However future research is needed to determine whether altered muscle activity, kinematics and kinetics can be changed with conservative treatment and subsequent effects on patient outcomes.
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ItemHip joint neuromuscular control and biomechanics in individuals with symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement( 2016)Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is recognised as a significant clinical problem among younger active adults. This morphological hip disorder can cause joint stiffness, hip and/or groin pain, and impaired function. Importantly, a link has been proposed between FAI and the future development of hip osteoarthritis. Current treatment often involves arthroscopic surgery; however, there is an overwhelming absence of evidence for its efficacy. It is plausible that non-operative treatments have an important role to play in management of symptomatic FAI. Developing and informing these treatments relies on an objective understanding of the exact nature of the associated physical impairments. This thesis aimed to comprehensively understand the extent of current knowledge and provide new data of the neuromuscular and biomechanical impairments in individuals with symptomatic FAI. Study 1 clarifies the current understanding of physical impairments and activity limitations in individuals with FAI by way of systematic review with consideration of study quality. This review identified 16 studies of level 3b-4 evidence that reported some physical impairments when compared to individuals without FAI. These were mainly in the domain of hip range of motion, particularly in directions of impingement (deep flexion, combined with adduction and internal rotation). Other impairments were suggested during gait, squatting, stair climbing and isometric muscle contractions, though evidence was limited and conflicting. Importantly, surgery for FAI was shown to restore some, but not all, physical impairments. This systematic review identified a need for studies to assess whether hip range of motion and neuromuscular function are compromised in dynamic tasks designed to target positions of impingement in individuals with symptomatic FAI. On the basis of recommendations from Study 1, cross-sectional investigations comparing several biomechanical and neuromuscular factors in individuals with symptomatic FAI, diagnosed by clinical examination and imaging features (n=15), to a matched asymptomatic control group, with no evidence of morphological FAI (n=15) were undertaken. Tri-planar hip kinematics and kinetics during gait were compared between the two groups in Study 2. Individuals with FAI walked with less range of motion in the sagittal plane during a gait cycle, but did not exhibit any other impairments. Less within-group variability was also observed in the FAI group at peak hip adduction angle and peak hip internal rotation angle (directions of impingement) during stance. On the foundation that conservative treatments and rehabilitation protocols following surgery for FAI regularly include hip muscle strengthening, Study 3 compared isometric and isokinetic hip muscle strength and agonist/antagonist ratios between the two groups. Individuals with FAI demonstrated isometric hip abductor muscle weakness, and a strength imbalance in the hip rotators when measured isometrically, but not isokinetically. As no studies have previously explored deep hip muscle function in individuals with symptomatic FAI, Study 4 investigated potential differences in muscle synergies during gait between the two groups. A non-negative matrix factorization algorithm extracted three synergies from the electromyographic patterns of select deep hip muscles, measured using intramuscular electrodes. Between-group comparison indicated the variance accounted for by the muscle synergies was higher in the FAI group than the pain-free controls. This suggests that coordination of deep hip muscles with the anatomical capacity to oppose impingement differed between groups, and importantly, that this difference can be attributed to increased variability in the healthy controls. Participants with FAI exhibited a more homogeneous pattern during the early swing phase of gait that appeared to be consistent with an effort to increase hip joint stability. Given that abnormal hip joint function was not well defined with gait assessment alone, Study 5 compared hip and pelvis biomechanics during two, more provocative, squatting tasks. Findings demonstrated that individuals with symptomatic FAI can squat to a depth comparable to controls, regardless of squatting task design. However, biomechanical alterations were evident at the hip and pelvis when the task was constrained. Decreased variability was once again demonstrated in the FAI group with respect to the transverse plane hip angle during the constrained task. The studies outlined in this thesis identified new neuromuscular and biomechanical impairments in individuals with symptomatic FAI. Taken together, these findings imply that FAI patients have adopted a motor coordination strategy that is consistently similar to each other, a feature that is not observed in healthy pain-free individuals with no pathology. Given the cross-sectional study design, it is not possible to clarify whether the differences precede or follow pathology development. Clinical interventions to restore normal musculoskeletal function around the hip joint may be beneficial, but future research is needed to determine whether these features can be changed and whether this improves outcomes.