THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LITTLE-FINGER MOBILITY, LUMBAR MOBILITY, STRAIGHT-LEG RAISING, AND LOW-BACK PAIN

Abstract

In a population of male post office employees examined at their place of work it was found that the ranges of little-finger extensibility, lumbar sagittal mobility and straight-leg raising were considerable. In spite of carefully reproduced methods of measurement, it was not possible to show useful correlations between these three indices nor does it appear that any can serve as a useful indicator of a past history of back pain. It seems unlikely, therefore, that any of them will be useful as a predictor of the future incidence of back pain, though this will be tested in the prospective part of the post office study.