ArticleGeroScience2020
Age- and sex-specific effects in paravertebral surface electromyographic back extensor muscle fatigue in chronic low back pain.
Article in GeroScience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Electrophysiological Signatures of Sarcopenia: A Systematic Review of sEMG Features, Fatigue Indices and AI-Based Classifiers.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- The effects of ageing on fatigue and endurance of the spinal extensor muscles: a systematic review and meta-analysis.GeroScience · 2026Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Surface Electromyography in Sarcopenia: Muscles Involved, Signal Processing Techniques, Significant Features, and Artificial Intelligence Approaches.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- Demographic and clinical characteristics associated with failure of physical therapy in chronic low back pain: a secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2024Trial
- Effects of High-Velocity Elbow Manipulation on Forearm Muscle Electromyographic Recovery in Karting Drivers: A Randomized Within-Participant Sham-Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Bioengineering Support in the Assessment and Rehabilitation of Low Back Pain.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Application of Surface Electromyography Technology in Evaluating Paraspinal Muscle Function.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Gut microbiota and intervertebral disc degeneration: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
- The Back Muscle Surface Electromyography-Based Fatigue Index: A Digital Biomarker of Human Neuromuscular Aging?Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Observation of curative effect on meridian theory-based extracorporeal shock wave therapy for non-specific low back pain: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2022Article
- Comparison of Core Muscle Asymmetry Using Spine Balance 3D in Patients with Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery: A STROBE-Compliant Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Age-specific differences in the time-frequency representation of surface electromyographic data recorded during a submaximal cyclic back extension exercise: a promising biomarker to detect early signs of sarcopenia.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The impact of aging on the back muscles is not well understood, yet may hold clues to both normal aging and chronic low back pain (cLBP). This study sought to investigate whether the median frequency (MF) surface electromyographic (SEMG) back muscle fatigue method-a proxy for glycolytic muscle metabolism-would be able to detect age- and sex-specific differences in neuromuscular and muscle metabolic functions in individuals with cLBP in a reliable way, and whether it would be as sensitive as when used on healthy individuals. With participants seated on a dynamometer (20° trunk anteflexion), paraspinal SEMG activity was recorded bilaterally from the multifidus (L5), longissimus (L2), and iliolumbalis (L1) muscles during isometric, sustained back extensions loaded at 80% of maximum from 117 younger (58 females) and 112 older (56 female) cLBP individuals. Tests were repeated after 1-2 days and 6 weeks. Median frequency, the SEMG variable indicating neuromuscular fatigue, was analyzed. Maximum back extensor strength was comparable between younger and older participants. Significantly less MF-SEMG back muscle fatigue was observed in older as compared to younger, and in older female as compared to older male cLBP individuals. Relative reliability was excellent, but absolute reliability appeared large for this SEMG-fatigue measure. Findings suggest that cLBP likely does not mask the age-specific diagnostic potential of the MF-SEMG back extensor fatigue method. Thus, this method possesses a great potential to be further developed into a valuable biomarker capable of detecting back muscle function at risk of sarcopenia at very early stages.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.