AUTHOR=Wang Hang , Dai Jing , Wang Chunchen , Gao Zhijun , Liu Yang , Dai Meng , Zhao Zhanqi , Yang Lin , Tan Guodong 

TITLE=Assessment of Low Back Pain in Helicopter Pilots Using Electrical Bio-Impedance Technique: A Feasibility Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=16

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.883348

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2022.883348

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>Low back pain (LBP) is known to pose a serious threat to helicopter pilots. This study aimed to explore the potential of electrical bio-impedance (EBI) technique with the advantages of no radiation, non-invasiveness and low cost, which is intended to be used as a daily detection tool to assess LBP in primary aviation medical units. The LBP scales (severity) in 72 helicopter pilots were assessed using a pain questionnaire, while the bilateral impedance measurements of the lumbar muscle were carried out with a high precision EBI measurement system. Results showed that the modulus of lumbar muscle impedance increased with LBP scale whereas the phase angle decreased. For different LBP scales, significant differences were found in the modulus of lumbar muscle impedance sum on both sides (<italic>Z</italic><sub><italic>sum</italic></sub>), as well as in the modulus and phase angle of lumbar muscle impedance difference between both sides (<italic>Z</italic><sub><italic>diff</italic></sub> and <italic>ϕ</italic><sub><italic>diff</italic></sub>), respectively (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). Moreover, Spearman’s correlation analysis manifested a strong correlation between <italic>Z</italic><sub><italic>sum</italic></sub> and LBP scale (<italic>R</italic> = 0.692, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), an excellent correlation between <italic>Z</italic><sub><italic>diff</italic></sub> and LBP scale (<italic>R</italic> = 0.86, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01), and a desirable correlation between <italic>ϕ</italic><sub><italic>diff</italic></sub> and LBP scale (<italic>R</italic> = −0.858, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01). In addition, receiver operator characteristic analysis showed that for LBP prediction, the area under receiver operator characteristic curve of <italic>Z</italic><sub><italic>sum</italic></sub>, <italic>Z</italic><sub><italic>diff</italic></sub>, and <italic>ϕ</italic><sub><italic>diff</italic></sub> were 0.931, 0.992, and 0.965, respectively. These findings demonstrated that EBI could sensitively and accurately detect the state of lumbar muscle associated with LBP, which might be the potential tool for daily detection of LBP in primary aviation medical units.</p>