The Structure of the Relationship of Physical Activity and Selected Factors Shaping the Condition and Self-assessment of Health of Patients with the Lumbar Spine Pain Syndrome

Introduction. The pain syndrome of the lumbar spine is one of the most common civilization diseases and requires surgery in the case of a significant percentage of patients. It is also associated with a number of other health problems, with gender being an important factor that differentiates patients’ health.Aim. For this reason, our own research was focused on determining the structure of the relationship between physical activity and selected factors shaping the condition and self-assessment of health of patients in the lumbar spine pain syndrome depending on gender.Material and Methods. The study sample consists of 205 patients hospitalized at the Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery of the Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin and at the Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurotraumatology and Neurosurgery, University Hospital No. 1 in Bydgoszcz. The Research used the Physical Activity Questionnaire IPAQ in Polish version, Visual Analogue Scale VAS, Questionnaire for Depression Measurement KPD, a proprietary questionnaire, as well as the results of laboratory tests of glucose concentration in the blood serum. The analysis of multidimensional relations between the variables was performed using the SEM structural equation modeling using the IBM SPSS 25 program with the AMOS extension.Results. In the subgroups of women and men, models that were structurally similar, although different in the values of selected path coefficients, were developed, which explains the variances of: blood glucose concentration, BMI, intensity of depression symptoms and self-assessment of health condition. The developed structural model shows that physical activity with mediating participation of blood glucose concentration, BMI and depression is associated with self-assessment of health. The indirect dependencies of physical activity and self-assessment of health condition also occur with the mediating participation of the BMI index and blood glucose concentration, as well as the BMI index and depression.Conclusions. The obtained data indicate that in the absence of health contraindications, an important element of interdisciplinary programs supporting the condition and self-assessment of health of patients with lumbar spine pain syndrome may be regular physical activity, adjusted to the needs and capabilities of the body. The differences between men and women suggest that preventive interventions should be gender-specific. (JNNN 2021;10(4):153–161)