Knee Muscle Strength in Adult Women with and without Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Comparative Study

Objective: Our Study aimed to compare strength of muscles the quadriceps and hamstrings in adult women with nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP) with healthy controls. Additionally, find the correlation between functional disability level and knee strength of muscles in Low back pain group (patients) Materials and Methods: Seventy-two adult women were enrolled in this clinical trial. Thirty-six women with NSLBP (Group A) with mean age (30.3) and mean BMI (24.1) and thirty-six healthy controls (Group B) with mean age (27.9) and mean BMI (22.95) participated. A handheld dynamometer was used to evaluate the isometric strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings. All data analyzed and tabulated by using SPSS Version 27 for the effects of group, leg (left vs. right), and muscle type (quadriceps vs. hamstrings) on muscle strength. Additionally, the disability level was measured using a questionnaire ODI, it is primarily chronic low back pain patients are used. Results: The Independent t-tests results revealed significant difference between strength of muscles of NSLBP group and the healthy controls. The results indicate that correlation between disability and knee muscle strength levels in individual’s low back pain (LBP) shows statistically not significant differences. Conclusion: Our Study found there are significant differences in quadriceps and hamstring strength in NSLBP when compared with healthy controls. These results suggest that mild to moderate NSLBP may be associated with knee muscle weakness in adult women., strength of muscles does not significantly vary across levels of self-reported disability