Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Nov 1:5:1236143.
doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1236143. eCollection 2023.

Measuring objective physical activity in people with chronic low back pain using accelerometers: a scoping review

Mathilde Berger  1   2 , Anne Martine Bertrand  1 , Thomas Robert  2 , Laurence Chèze  2
Affiliations

Measuring objective physical activity in people with chronic low back pain using accelerometers: a scoping review

Mathilde Berger et al. Front Sports Act Living. .

Abstract

Purpose: Accelerometers can be used to objectively measure physical activity. They could be offered to people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) who are encouraged to maintain an active lifestyle. The aim of this study was to examine the use of accelerometers in studies of people with CLBP and to synthesize the main results regarding the measurement of objective physical activity.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O'Malley's framework. Relevant studies were collected from 4 electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Web of Science) between January 2000 and July 2023. Two reviewers independently screened all studies and extracted data.

Results: 40 publications out of 810 citations were included for analysis. The use of accelerometers in people with CLBP differed across studies; the duration of measurement, physical activity outcomes and models varied, and several limitations of accelerometry were reported. The main results of objective physical activity measures varied and were sometimes contradictory. Thus, they question the validity of measurement methods and provide the opportunity to discuss the objective physical activity of people with CLBP.

Conclusions: Accelerometers have the potential to monitor physical performance in people with CLBP; however, important technical limitations must be overcome.

Keywords: accelerometer; chronic low back pain; inertial measurement unit; physical activity; scoping review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Haute Autorité de Santé. Prise en charge du patient présentant une lombalgie commune (2019). p. 178.
    1. Hartvigsen J, Hancock MJ, Kongsted A, Louw Q, Ferreira ML, Genevay S, et al. What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention. Lancet. (2018) 391(10137):2356–67. 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30480-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Oliveira CB, Franco MR, Maher CG, Christine Lin CW, Morelhão PK, Araújo AC, et al. Physical activity interventions for increasing objectively measured physical activity levels in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review. Arthritis Care Res. (2016) 68(12):1832–42. 10.1002/acr.22919 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Heneweer H, Staes F, Aufdemkampe G, van Rijn M, Vanhees L. Physical activity and low back pain: a systematic review of recent literature. Eur Spine J. (2011) 20(6):826–45. 10.1007/s00586-010-1680-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Grabovac I, Dorner TE. Association between low back pain and various everyday performances. Wien Klin Wochenschr. (2019) 131(21):541–9. 10.1007/s00508-019-01542-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources