Alteration and Recovery of Lumbar Spine Mechanics to Flexed Postures

腰椎力学向屈曲姿势的改变和恢复

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-04900
• 负责人: DeCarvalho, Diana
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Memorial University of Newfoundland
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=615370
• 关键词: Alteration; Recovery; Lumbar; Spine; Mechanics

Society has become aware that sitting for long periods of time is bad. While researchers have shown that sitting is linked with higher risk of developing diseases and earlier death in the long-term, relatively little is known about the short-term effects. Sitting involves a great amount of bending in the spine that directly affects the muscles, nerves and joints of the low back. Changes to these structures can lead to injury resulting in significant impacts on quality of life, the ability to work and productivity levels. It is also interesting that, within the healthy population, some individuals seem to be able to sit extensively without issue whereas others cannot. Currently, we know that long periods in a posture where the back is totally bent causes the spine to become more flexible, lengthens the time it takes for muscles to turn on to protect joints and can cause inflammation in the ligaments of the spine. There is also evidence that the reversal of the above changes takes more than twice the time it took to create them. Applying these research findings to sitting is not completely correct since most work has only looked at maximum bending whereas sitting involves less extreme bending. Similarly, when appropriate postures have been examined, the testing length has been brief and not comparable to real job situations. To date, no researchers have looked at differences between sitting tolerant and intolerant individuals in the healthy population. To address these questions, this program will use healthy, human subjects to investigate changes to the low back, and their persistence, in response to sitting with exposure times and seating types relevant to the workplace. Specifically, changes in back flexibility and muscle activity will be measured and compared between different seats (office, automobile and sit/stand stools), between sitting tolerant/intolerant individuals and between durations (hours, days and one week). The anticipated outcomes of this research program include the determination of: (1) differences in flexibility and/or muscle function between sitting tolerant and intolerant individuals, (2) flexibility and muscle function response to various seating types and exposure times and (3) the persistence of flexibility and muscle changes after short (hours, day) and medium (week) exposures to office sitting. These results will directly lead to targeted workplace interventions and the ability to design appropriate work/rest strategies and evidence-based guidelines to limit exposure to sitting in the workplace. Further, it will contribute to research by providing important information on how the effects of sitting accumulate and persist over time. Since the majority of Canadians spend most of their day sitting at work, the results of this research will have far reaching effects, improving the productivity and performance of workers, and ultimately benefiting the economy and industry.

社会已经意识到久坐是不好的。虽然研究人员已经证明，长期久坐会增加患疾病的风险和过早死亡，但对其短期影响的了解相对较少。坐着会使脊柱大量弯曲，直接影响到下背部的肌肉、神经和关节。这些结构的变化可能导致损伤，从而对生活质量、工作能力和生产力水平产生重大影响。同样有趣的是，在健康人群中，有些人似乎可以毫无问题地长时间坐着，而另一些人则不能。