Sense of effort is distorted in people with chronic low back pain

Abstract Background: Proprioceptive deficits in people with low back pain (LBP) have traditionally been attributed to altered paraspinal muscle spindle afference and its central processing. Studies conducted in the upper limb demonstrated that sense of effort is also an important source of kinaesthetic information. Objectives: To better understand proprioceptive deficits in people with chronic LBP (cLBP), this study aimed to test whether sense of effort is affected in people with cLBP. Design: Cross-sectional study. Method: Fourteen participants with cLBP and fourteen healthy participants performed a 120 second force matching task with their trunk extensor muscles at a low intensity. Results: When visual feedback of the generated force was provided, both groups performed the task accurately. Removal of visual feedback resulted in an increase in error for both groups (p