Postural stability, body composition and functional ability of the lower extremity in patients with lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis

Abstract

Although patients accessing rehabilitation services had been reported to have better functional ability of the lower limbs, postural stability, and low cardiovascular disease risk factors, updated data from developing countries is however vital for clinical practices. Hence, the aim of this study was to present the association between lower extremity functional ability (LEFA), stability, and body composition profiles in rehabilitative lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (LDS) patients considering age and gender. One hundred and twenty-four participants (45 females, 79 males), with a mean age of 56.45±11.13 years, volunteered for the study. Weight, height body fat percent (BFP), visceral fat, body mass index (BMI), resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate were measured while functional ability and stability tests were conducted on the participants. 53.4% were at least overweight; LEFA was below average, stability of both dominant and nondominant legs was very poor, blood pressure and heart rate were high. Women had high total body fat and visceral fat. Significant differences were observed in BMI (p=0.044) and BFP (p=0.035) based on age classification as well as BMI (p=0.000), BFP (p=0.000) and visceral fat (p=0.000) by gender. Overweight, high blood pressure, poor LEFA, and postural stability are crucial comorbidities of Ghanaian LDS patients in this study. Educationally and pragmatically comprehensive healthy lifestyle interventions of regular exercise regimes, adequate and quality nutrition, and occupational stress reduction would play major complementary roles in chiropractic treatment.