STUDY DESIGN: A controlled study with a 6-month follow-up period. OBJECTIVES: To find an explanation for the association between impairment in information processing, i.e., slow reaction times, and chronic low back trouble. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Low back trouble, chronic pain in general, and depression have been associated with impaired cognitive functions and slow reaction times. It is a common phenomenon that the preferred hand performs better than the nonpreferred hand in motor tasks. The authors hypothesized that chronic low back trouble hampers the functioning of short-term memory in a way that leads the preferred hand to loose its advantage over the nonpreferred hand, but that the advantage would be restored during the rehabilitation. METHODS:Sixty-one healthy control subjects and 68 patients with low back trouble participated in the study. Reaction times for the preferred and nonpreferred upper limbs were tested. A multiway analysis of covariance was used to examine the group, handedness, and rehabilitation effects on reaction times. The hypothesis was specifically tested with a third-degree interaction: group-handedness-rehabilitation. RESULTS: A significant interaction among group, handedness, and rehabilitation was found (P = 0.05). At the beginning, the reaction times for the preferred hand were faster among the control subjects (P = 0.001), but not among the patients with low back trouble (P = 0.62). After the rehabilitation, the preferred hand was faster both among the control subjects (P = 0.001) and the patients with low back trouble (P = 0.0002). During the rehabilitation, back pain, psychological distress, and general disability decreased significantly among the patients with chronic low back trouble. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the hypothesis that chronic low back trouble (i.e., pain, psychological distress, and general disability) hampers the functioning of short-term memory, which results in decreased speed of information processing among patients with chronic low back trouble.
RCT Entities:
STUDY DESIGN: A controlled study with a 6-month follow-up period. OBJECTIVES: To find an explanation for the association between impairment in information processing, i.e., slow reaction times, and chronic low back trouble. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Low back trouble, chronic pain in general, and depression have been associated with impaired cognitive functions and slow reaction times. It is a common phenomenon that the preferred hand performs better than the nonpreferred hand in motor tasks. The authors hypothesized that chronic low back trouble hampers the functioning of short-term memory in a way that leads the preferred hand to loose its advantage over the nonpreferred hand, but that the advantage would be restored during the rehabilitation. METHODS: Sixty-one healthy control subjects and 68 patients with low back trouble participated in the study. Reaction times for the preferred and nonpreferred upper limbs were tested. A multiway analysis of covariance was used to examine the group, handedness, and rehabilitation effects on reaction times. The hypothesis was specifically tested with a third-degree interaction: group-handedness-rehabilitation. RESULTS: A significant interaction among group, handedness, and rehabilitation was found (P = 0.05). At the beginning, the reaction times for the preferred hand were faster among the control subjects (P = 0.001), but not among the patients with low back trouble (P = 0.62). After the rehabilitation, the preferred hand was faster both among the control subjects (P = 0.001) and the patients with low back trouble (P = 0.0002). During the rehabilitation, back pain, psychological distress, and general disability decreased significantly among the patients with chronic low back trouble. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the hypothesis that chronic low back trouble (i.e., pain, psychological distress, and general disability) hampers the functioning of short-term memory, which results in decreased speed of information processing among patients with chronic low back trouble.
Authors: Tommi Kääriäinen; Ville Leinonen; Simo Taimela; Timo Aalto; Heikki Kröger; Arto Herno; Veli Turunen; Sakari Savolainen; Markku Kankaanpää; Olavi Airaksinen Journal: Eur Spine J Date: 2012-11-21 Impact factor: 3.134
Authors: Afsaneh Zeinalzadeh; Salman Nazary-Moghadam; Sayyed Hadi Sayyed Hoseinian; Mohammad H Ebrahimzadeh; Esmaeel Imani; Samira Karimpour Journal: Arch Bone Jt Surg Date: 2021-01
Authors: Christian Puta; Birgit Schulz; Saskia Schoeler; Walter Magerl; Brunhild Gabriel; Holger H W Gabriel; Wolfgang H R Miltner; Thomas Weiss Journal: BMC Neurol Date: 2012-09-21 Impact factor: 2.474
Authors: Christian Puta; Birgit Schulz; Saskia Schoeler; Walter Magerl; Brunhild Gabriel; Holger H W Gabriel; Wolfgang H R Miltner; Thomas Weiss Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-03-15 Impact factor: 3.240