2005 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 179-185
In an attempt to reduce low back pain with prolonged sitting, a pneumatic device was developed to provide lumbar lordotic continuous passive motion (CPM). Three different designs of a chair, i.e. without lumbar support, with lumbar support and with the CPM were compared in 10 healthy male volunteers. Each subject used the visual analogue scales (VAS) for low back pain, stiffness, fatigue, and buttock numbness after 120 min of testing. Compared with the chair without lumbar support, VAS improvements for lumbar discomfort were statistically significant in both that with lumbar support and CPM (8.0 in the chair without lumbar support, 6.2 in the chair with lumbar support, and 6.2 in the chair with CPM, p<0.05). VAS for fatigue were also statistically significantly improved in the lumbar support and CPM (7.5, 6.0 and 5.8, respectively, p<0.005). Significant improvement in buttock numbness was noted only with CPM (6.3, 5.3 and 4.5, respectively, p<0.005). CPM presumably provides a comprehensive solution for occupational disability due to sitting intolerance.
