{"title":"Effects of attentional focus on quiet standing balance control in individuals with non-specific chronic low back pain","authors":"Pardis Pourgravand , Razieh Mofateh , Neda Orakifar , Mohammad-Jafar Shaterzadeh-Yazdi , Maryam Seyedtabib , Ramin Saki","doi":"10.1016/j.humov.2024.103271","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Despite the widespread research about the effects of attentional focus on balance control in different populations, to the best of our knowledge, no study has yet investigated the effects of attentional focus instructions on balance control in individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Therefore, this study was aimed to compare the effects of internal focus (IF) and external focus (EF) of attention on quiet standing balance control between individuals with CLBP and healthy controls. Twenty individuals with CLBP and 20 healthy controls were enrolled in this quasi-experimental study. The participants were asked to stand still with eyes open and eyes closed while performing three tasks: baseline standing with no focus instructions, internally focusing on their feet, and externally focusing on two markers were placed on the force platform. Statistical analyses showed a significant main effect of group for mean total velocity (<em>p</em> = 0.02), area (<em>p</em> = 0.01), and displacement in mediolateral (ML) direction (<em>p</em> = 0.003). Moreover, a significant main effect of vision was observed for mean total velocity (<em>p</em> < 0.001), area (<em>p</em> < 0.001), and displacement in anteroposterior (AP) (<em>p</em> < 0.001) and ML directions (<em>p</em> < 0.001). Also, the results revealed a significant main effect of attentional focus for mean total velocity (<em>p</em> < 0.001), area (<em>p</em> < 0.001), and displacement in AP (<em>p</em> < 0.001) and ML directions (<em>p</em> = 0.01). Our results showed that in both healthy controls and individuals with CLBP, EF led to improve quiet standing balance control compared to IF and control conditions. From a clinical perspective, it may be useful for physical therapists to consider the use of instruction cues that direct performer's attention away from the body for improving quiet standing balance control in individuals with CLBP.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55046,"journal":{"name":"Human Movement Science","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 103271"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human Movement Science","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167945724000940","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite the widespread research about the effects of attentional focus on balance control in different populations, to the best of our knowledge, no study has yet investigated the effects of attentional focus instructions on balance control in individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Therefore, this study was aimed to compare the effects of internal focus (IF) and external focus (EF) of attention on quiet standing balance control between individuals with CLBP and healthy controls. Twenty individuals with CLBP and 20 healthy controls were enrolled in this quasi-experimental study. The participants were asked to stand still with eyes open and eyes closed while performing three tasks: baseline standing with no focus instructions, internally focusing on their feet, and externally focusing on two markers were placed on the force platform. Statistical analyses showed a significant main effect of group for mean total velocity (p = 0.02), area (p = 0.01), and displacement in mediolateral (ML) direction (p = 0.003). Moreover, a significant main effect of vision was observed for mean total velocity (p < 0.001), area (p < 0.001), and displacement in anteroposterior (AP) (p < 0.001) and ML directions (p < 0.001). Also, the results revealed a significant main effect of attentional focus for mean total velocity (p < 0.001), area (p < 0.001), and displacement in AP (p < 0.001) and ML directions (p = 0.01). Our results showed that in both healthy controls and individuals with CLBP, EF led to improve quiet standing balance control compared to IF and control conditions. From a clinical perspective, it may be useful for physical therapists to consider the use of instruction cues that direct performer's attention away from the body for improving quiet standing balance control in individuals with CLBP.
期刊介绍:
Human Movement Science provides a medium for publishing disciplinary and multidisciplinary studies on human movement. It brings together psychological, biomechanical and neurophysiological research on the control, organization and learning of human movement, including the perceptual support of movement. The overarching goal of the journal is to publish articles that help advance theoretical understanding of the control and organization of human movement, as well as changes therein as a function of development, learning and rehabilitation. The nature of the research reported may vary from fundamental theoretical or empirical studies to more applied studies in the fields of, for example, sport, dance and rehabilitation with the proviso that all studies have a distinct theoretical bearing. Also, reviews and meta-studies advancing the understanding of human movement are welcome.
These aims and scope imply that purely descriptive studies are not acceptable, while methodological articles are only acceptable if the methodology in question opens up new vistas in understanding the control and organization of human movement. The same holds for articles on exercise physiology, which in general are not supported, unless they speak to the control and organization of human movement. In general, it is required that the theoretical message of articles published in Human Movement Science is, to a certain extent, innovative and not dismissible as just "more of the same."