Effect of optimization criterion on spinal force estimates during asymmetric lifting

Optimization-based muscle force prediction models of the lumbar region are used in research and ergonomic practice, usually as a subroutine of a job analysis software package. Various optimization criteria have been put forward for use in rationally selecting a set of muscle forces to satisfy moment equilibrium, including the sum of cubed muscle contraction intensities and a double linear programming procedure for minimizing the spinal compression force and maximum muscle contraction intensity. A laboratory study was conducted to determine whether these two model formulations produce significantly different estimates of spinal forces for a dynamic asymmetric lift. Although statistically significant differences were found between the predictions of the two models, the difference in peak spinal compression force was only 1.1%.