The Effects of Spinal Mobilization on Knee Flexor Effective Musculo-articular Stiffness
Open Access
- Author:
- Osborn, Carina Gabrielle
- Area of Honors:
- Kinesiology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Sayers John Miller III, Thesis Supervisor
Giampietro Luciano Vairo, Thesis Supervisor
Jinger S. Gottschall, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Spinal mobilization
spinal manipulation
musculo-articular
stiffness - Abstract:
- Objective: To investigate the immediate and delayed effects of Grade V spinal mobilizations (manipulation) on knee flexor effective musculo-articular stiffness (MAS) in a healthy, young and physically active population. We hypothesized that spinal manipulation would decrease MAS immediately after treatment. Design and Settings: A prospective cohort study was conducted in a controlled research laboratory. The independent variable was the spinal manipulation technique. The dependent variable was knee flexor effective knee flexor MAS for the dominant leg. Participants underwent three separate testing sessions: baseline; immediately post-manipulation; one week post-manipulation. Subjects: Twenty-three (15 men, 8 women) healthy, physically active participants (age = 20.10 ± 1.10 years, height = 1.72 ± 0.15 m, mass = 72.50 ± 16.00 kg, RPI = 41.60 ± 3.22 cm/kg1/3) were enrolled. Measurements: Dominant leg shank and foot lengths were measured for MAS calculations. Knee flexor effective MAS normalized to body mass, was measured via the free oscillation technique that assessed the spring-like behavior of the hamstrings when operating at 45% of maximal volitional isometric contraction. Group means and standard deviations were calculated by condition of the leg (baseline, immediately post-manipulation and one-week post-manipulation). A one-way analysis of variance assessed group mean differences. P < 0.05 denoted statistical significance. Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference post hoc test assessed pairwise comparisons with an associated 95% simultaneous confidence interval determining statistical significance. Results: No statistically significant differences existed among baseline [3.811 ± 1.304 (Nm/rad)/kg], immediately post-manipulation [3.803 ± 1.386 (Nm/rad)/kg] and one-week post-manipulation [4.030 ± 2.585 (Nm/rad)/kg] conditions (P = 0.895). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there is no significant immediate or delayed change in knee flexor effective MAS after one treatment session of spinal manipulation in a healthy, young and physically active population.