To Flex or Not to Flex? Is There a Relationship Between Lumbar Spine Flexion During Lifting and Low Back Pain? A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis | Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
Objective To evaluate whether lumbar spine flexion during lifting is a risk factor for low back pain (LBP) onset/persistence or a differentiator of people with and without LBP. Design Etiology systematic review with meta-analysis. Literature Search Database search of ProQuest, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Embase up to August 21, 2018. Study Selection Criteria We included peer-reviewed articles that investigated whether lumbar spine position during lifting was a risk factor for LBP onset or persistence or a differentiator of people with and without LBP. Data Synthesis Lifting-task comparison data were tabulated and summarized. The meta-analysis calculated an n-weighted pooled mean ± SD of the results in the LBP and no-LBP groups. If a study contained multiple comparisons (ie, different lifting tasks that used various weights or directions), then only 1 result from that study was included in the meta-analysis. Results Four studies (1 longitudinal study and 3 cross-sectional studies across 5 arti