Etiology and Progression of Acute Muscle Tension Related Low Back Pain Occurring During Sustained Activity Including Combat Training Exercises

The project is determining relationships between low back muscle tension, amount and type of activity, and onset and intensity of low back pain among people in their normal environments in order to develop preventive and ameliorative measures. The program emphasizes soldiers who are usually pain free in their normal work environments but who experience debilitating low back pain during combat training exercises. Ambulatory recorders are used to record muscle tension, amount of activity, and back pain for 20 hours at a time among civilians in their normal work environments and among soldiers either in garrison or participating in combat training exercises. The test-retest reliability and confidence limits of the system have been established. Relationships between the output of the ambulatory recorder and a output of standard instruments and b pulling against a standard weight have also been established. Initial evaluation of the results demonstrates that, for people with muscle tension related low back pain, low back muscle tension changes at least a few minutes prior to changes in pain intensity. There is also a definite relationship between participation in field exercises and onset of low back pain among both soldiers who normally do and do not experience back pain.