The Standardised Mensendieck Test as a tool for evaluation of movement quality in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain

Background and aims: Nonspecific chronic low back pain is a multifactorial biopsychosocial health problem where accurate assessments of pain, function and movement are vital. There are few reliable and valid assessment tools evaluating movement quality, hence the aim was to investigate nonspecific chronic low back pain patients' movement patterns with the Standardised Mensendieck Test. Methods: Twenty patients (mean age = 41, SD = 9.02) with nonspecific chronic low back pain were examined with the Standardised Mensendieck Test whilst being videotaped and compared with 20 healthy controls. A physiotherapist, blinded to participant's group belonging, scored Standardised Mensendieck Test videos according to the standardised manual. Associations between movement quality, fear of movement and re(injury) i.e. kinesio-phobia and pain intensity were also investigated. Results: Patients scored significantly poorer than the controls in all 5 Standardised Mensendieck Test domains (p < 0.001). The biggest difference was observed with regard to movement pattern domain. In women we also found a difference in the respiration pattern domain. Conclusions: The Standardised Mensendieck Test was able to detect significant differences in quality of movement between patients and healthy controls. These results indicate that the Standardised Mensendieck Test may be a valuable examination tool in assessment and treatment of nonspecific chronic low back pain patients. Further, longitudinal studies should investigate whether poor movement and respiration patterns are important factors in nonspecific chronic low back pain, e.g. as predictors and/or mediators of therapeutic effects.