Three dimensional, lumbar spinal kinematics during gait, following mild musculo-skeletal low back pain in nurses

Motion of the lumbar spine is an integral, but relatively unexplored aspect of human gait. This paper reports the development of a new system for the clinical measurement of spinal kinematics during gait and its use to measure the motion of the lumbar spine during level, free, speed, walking in a group of ten nurses who have returned to work following one or more episodes of mild musculo-skeletal back pain. The results produced shed light on the nature of lumbar spinal motion during gait and indicate that the nurses tested had essentially normal gait patterns.