Summary
This paper considers an internal standard of lumbar muscularity. The cross-sectional areas (A cs) of the intervertebral disc and paraspinal muscles were measured in 147 working men from an axial magnetic resonance image passing through the L3-4 disc. Lumbar muscularity was expressed by two ratios; the ratio between the A cs of the right psoas and the A cs of the intervertebral disc (P:disc), and the ratio between the combined A cs values of the right erector spinae and quadratus lumborum and the A cs of the disc (ESQL:disc). When the subjects were divided into two age groups (76 aged 20–30 years and 71 aged 31–58 years) lumbar muscularity was found to be significantly greater (P < 0.001) in the younger age group (P:disc=0.8, SD 0.2; ESQL:disc=2.0, SD 0.3) than in the older age group (P:disc =0.7, SD 0.2; ESQL:disc=1.8, SD 0.3). Lumbar muscularity was not significantly affected by occupation or by a history of low back pain.
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Savage, R.A., Millerchip, R., Whitehouse, G.H. et al. Lumbar muscularity and its relationship with age, occupation and low back pain. Eur J Appl Physiol 63, 265–268 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00233859
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00233859