Effects Of Various Types Of Abdominal Support On Back Muscle Activity Characteristics And Postural Control

Objective: Abdominal obesity is a type of obesity in which fat accumulates mainly in the abdomen,and is a widespread health problem worldwide.Abdominal obesity is characterized by weak abdominal muscle strength,decreased abdominal stiffness,compensatory contraction of back muscles during flexion and extension movements of trunk,resulting in increased spinal load,which leads to Chronic Low Back Pain(CLBP).For this group,if appropriate abdominal support is provided,increasing abdominal stiffness,and reducing the bending moment produced by gravity,reducing spinal and back muscle loading and thus preventing CLBP.However,most previous studies have been on lumbar support and have not considered the abdominal obesity population,which is at a higher risk of developing CLBP,neither did they consider lumbar support to compress the back and worsen symptoms CLBP.Moreover,previous studies on the effects of supports have mainly focused on electromyographic and kinematic characteristics,and there have been fewer relevant studies combining kinetics with the other two,thus limiting the understanding of abdominal supports for the prevention of CLBP in this type of population.Therefore,this study aims to investigate effects of different types of abdominal support(Elastic Belt,EB;Athletic Taping,AT;)on muscle activity characteristics and postural control in abdominally obese people,and to provide the experimental basis for the prevention of CLBP among such people.Methods: Eighteen abdominally obese subjects were recruited for this study,Root Mean Square(MRS)of multifidus(MF),Erector Spinae of Thoracic and Lumbar(T-ES and L-ES),and Latissimus Dorsi(LD),angular changes of trunk and hip joints,Root Mean Square of center of pressure(COP＿RMS)and differences between the maximum and minimum displacements(Max-Min)were collected with the Myo Research XP Master Software(2000 HZ),Vicon 3D motion capture system(200 HZ)and Kistler 3D force platform(1000HZ)for subjects wearing Non Taping(NT),EB and AT respectively.A repeated measures two-way ANOVA was used to compare effects of various types of abdominal support and wearing-bearing conditions for s EMG signals,kinematic and Kinetics data.Results: 1.s EMG: There was no significant interaction effect between different types of support and weight-bearing conditions on Root Mean Square(RMS)of MF,L-ES,T-ES and LD(P>0.05).Post hoc test results showed that(1)MF: Compared to NT,RMS of MF was no significant difference(P>0.05).(2)L-ES: EB significantly reduced RMS of L-ES compared with NT and AT(P<0.05);(2)T-ES: EB significantly reduced RMS of T-ES compared with NT and AT(P<0.05),and AT also significantly lowered RMS of T-ES compared to NT(P<0.05);(4)LD: Both AT and EB significantly decreased RMS of LD compared to NT(P<0.05).2.Kinematics:(1)Max Flexion Angle(MFA)of trunk and hip joint: Compared with NT,MFA of trunk was significantly decreased and MFA of hip joint was significantly Increased when supported by AT(P<0.05).(2)There was a significant increase in Adduction-abduction amplitude of hip joint with EB compared to NT(P<0.05),and no significant difference in rotation amplitude of hip joint with EB and AT,although there was an increased trend(P>0.05).(3)There was no significant difference in effects of various abdominal supports on trunk lateral tilt and rotation amplitude(P>0.05).3.Kinetics: There was no significant interaction effect between the influence of weight and support conditions on RMS and difference between the maximum and minimum displacements(Max-Min)of the COP at both Medial Lateral(ML)and Anterior Posterior(AP).Post hoc test results showed that,for Medial Lateral,the effect of EB and AT on RMS of COP showed a tendency to decline compared to NT,but no significant difference(P>0.05).Compared with NT,the Max-Min of COP was significantly lower with AT(P<0.05),and there was no significant difference when supported by EB(P>0.05);For Anterior Posterior,there was no significant difference in Max-Min and RMS of COP among various supports(P>0.05).Conclusion:(1)Both EB and AT help to decrease the activation of back muscle and reduce load of spine and back muscle,furthermore,EB is more effective than AT.Therefore,both supports can be applied to the explosive activities of people with weak abdominal muscle strength such as abdominal obesity.However,it should be noted that long-term use may also cause disuse atrophy of trunk muscles.Moreover,both supports may compensate for restricted trunk movement by increasing hip joint motion,allowing for a change in postural control strategy,with the hip joint strategy playing a major role.