Unveiling the Link between Pelvic Inclination and Hamstring Tightness in Middle-Aged Individuals Afflicted with Non-Specific Low Back Pain

Objective: To determine the relationship between hamstring tightness and pelvic inclination in middle-aged subjects with and without low back pain. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at two hospitals in New Delhi, India from December 2018 to May 2019. Subjects were divided equally into two groups each group formed on the basis of presence and absence of non-specific low back pain. Both males and females between 25-40 years and having nonspecific chronic low back pain with 4 months were included in the study. Hamstring muscle tightness and pelvic inclination angle were the outcome measures. Hamstring tightness was assessed by the right popliteal angle and left popliteal angle Results: Of the total 70 subjects (35 with low back pain and 35 without low back pain), the mean age of the group with low back pain was 32.51 ± 4.31 years, and of the group without low back pain was 32.4 ± 4.51 years. Mean pelvic inclination was found significantly higher in the group with low back pain as compared to the group without low back pain i.e, 15.57° ± 2.86 vs. 13.11° ± 1.34 (p-value < 0.001). Similarly, the mean right popliteal angle and left popliteal angle were also found significantly higher in the group with low back pain as compared to the group without low back pain i.e., 29.23° ± 6.68 vs. 12.94° ± 4.25 (p-value < 0.001) and 25.0° ± 6.73 vs. 13.05° ± 4.30 (p-value < 0.001) respectively.