ABSTRACTBackground Back pain is highly prevalent among professional guitar players. The sustained trunk and lumbar posture while playing imposes musculoskeletal demands that may be related to back pain in this population. Purpose s: To investigate the relationship between trunk and lumbar posture while playing with pain intensity, years of playing experience, and weekly practice hours in professional guitar players with back pain. Methods Seventeen professional male guitar players with back pain were evaluated. Trunk and lumbar posture while playing were measured using a three-dimensional motion capture system. Pain intensity over the last 15 days, current pain, and at its worst, along with years of playing experience and weekly hours of practice, were recorded. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the association between trunk and lumbar posture, years of experience, weekly practice hours, and pain intensity. Results Back pain intensity over the last 15 days (r = 0.53; P=0.029) and worst back pain (r = 0.52; P=0.031) were positively correlated with trunk lateral flexion. The current pain was negatively correlated with trunk flexion (r = -0.51; P=0.035). Years of experience was positively correlated with lumbar flexion (r = 0.58; P=0.024), and weekly practice hours was associated with trunk flexion (r = 0.61; P=0.007). Conclusions These findings may be explained by the increased loading on spine tissues due to asymmetrical trunk postures, postural strategies adopted to attenuate back pain, and the effects of playing experience and practice hours on the length and stiffness of spine tissues.
Resende et al. (2026) studied this question.