Walking Performance during Concurrent Cognitive and Motor Tasks in Individuals with Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to compare the effects of simultaneous cognitive and motor tasks on walking performance between individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) and healthy controls. METHODS: A total of 20 patients with NSCLBP and 20 healthy controls participated in this study. They walked at their self-selected speed on a treadmill under 3 walking conditions in a randomized order: walking only, walking while performing a concurrent cognitive task, and walking while performing a concurrent motor task. Two-way repeated measure analysis of variance with additional post hoc comparison (Bonferroni test) was used to evaluate the effects of group and walking conditions on gait parameters. RESULTS: The result showed a significant main effect of the group for swing time ( P = 0.012) and double support time (P = 0.021) in those with NSCLBP compared with healthy controls. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between the group and condition for cadence ( P = 0.004) and step width variability (P = 0.016).Regarding stride length variability and stride time variability, the analysis indicated a significant effect of condition (P = 0.002 and P = 0.030, respectively). In both groups, no significant differences were observed in gait parameters between motor dual task and single walking ( P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that those with NSCLBP adapted successfully to walking performance to maintain the performance of the concurrent cognitive task under the cognitive dual-task walking condition. Moreover, the present study observed no dual-task interference under the motor dual-task condition.