Effect of Rehabilitation with Beta Medicine Ball on Ground Reaction ForceComponents in Low Back Pain Patients during Walking

Low back pain has attracted clinical attention due to its high prevalence. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of rehabilitation with medicine ball on ground reaction force components in low back pain patients during a walking.

The statistical population included patients with low back pain aged 20-30 years in Ardabil city, Iran in 2019. Twenty men with low back pain were randomly divided into two groups of exercise (age: 25.8±2.9 years; weight: 79.0±3.1 kg; height: 176.6±7.1 cm) and control (age: 25.4±2.5 years; weight: 79.4±3.6 kg; height: 176.3±7.4 cm). The exercise group performed 12 sessions of core muscle strengthening exercise with Beta medicine ball. Ground reaction force components were recorded during the pre- and post-test by a Bertec force plates.

Pain index in the exercise group decreased significantly during the post-test compared to the pretest (P = 0.044). Also, the interactive effect of time and group on the peak values of ground reaction force in the internal direction during the pushing phase was significant (P = 0.045). Pair comparison showed that the values of this component in the exercise group increased significantly during the post-test compared to the pre-test. The values of ground reaction force components did not change in the control group (P <0.05).

Core muscle strengthening exercise can be useful in improving kinetic variables and pain index in patients with low back pain. However, further proof of this requires further research in this area.