Correlation between Radiologic Sign of Lumbar Lordosis and Functional Status in Patients with Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain

STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. PURPOSE: To describe the correlation between lumbar lordosis angle and functional status of patients with chronic mechanical low back pain (CMLBP). OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: There are different and conflicting opinions regarding the relationship between the degree of lumbar lordosis and functional status of patients with low back pain. Nonetheless, the severity of lordosis is still one of the routine physical exams considered in rehabilitation clinics. METHODS: The degree of lumbar lordosis of 150 patients with CMLBP was measured by means of Cobb's method using sagittal standing spinal radiographs. Subjects with probable secondary causes of low back pain (trauma, congenital anomaly, spinal infection, rheumatologic problems and history of spinal surgery) were excluded. Besides recording demographic data, their score of functional disability was estimated using Oswestry Disability Questionnaire, one of the most useful and reliable questionnaires. Comparison between these data was made regarding different age and gender groups. RESULTS: In this study, 119 subjects were female and 31 male, with an age range of 19-85 years. The average degree of lumbar lordosis was 44.69±11.43 and that of Oswestry disability index (ODI) 30.52%. Although we found a significant direct relationship between age and degree of lumbar lordosis (Pearson's correlation coefficient, p=0.016, r=0.197), while insignificant correlation was seen between the degree of lumbar lordosis and ODI (p=0.129). CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant correlation between the degree of lumbar lordosis and the score of functional disability with regards to different age groups and gender.