Lotte Janssens

Hasselt University · Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences

Objective To summarise the evidence on the effect of physiotherapy-led versus physician-led care on clinical outcomes, healthcare use, and costs in persons with low back pain. Data sources PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, and PEDro were systematically searched with the latest search performed in July 2024. Reference lists of articles were ha...

Objectives To explore the views of patients and healthcare providers on current rehabilitation after lumbar fusion surgery (LFS) to fuel the development of a novel rehabilitation care pathway. Design A cross-sectional, qualitative study with an interpretive descriptive design. Setting Academic and non-academic hospital setting in Belgium. Partic...

Purpose The aim of this systematic review was primarily to identify the types of mHealth technologies for the rehabilitation of non-specific spinal disorders, second to evaluate their efficacy, and finally to determine their applicability in LMICs. Methods Three databases (Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science) were searched for randomized controlled...

Background: Alterations in postural control have been found in individuals with low back pain (LBP), particularly during challenging postural tasks. Moreover, higher levels of negative pain-related psychological variables are associated with increased trunk muscle activity, reduced spinal movement, and worse maximal physical performance in individu...

Background: There is limited evidence to guide the rehabilitation of patients following single or double-level lumbar fusion surgery (LFS). This is reflected in extensive variability in current rehabilitation regimes and subsequent low clinical success rates, which urges a call for a consensus rehabilitation pathway. Aim: To establish consensus...

Objectives The Fear-Avoidance Components Scale (FACS) is a recently developed patient-reported instrument assessing different constructs related to the fear-avoidance model of pain. The aim was to translate the original English FACS into Dutch (FACS-D) and assess its measurement properties in persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Methods The...

Purpose This study aimed to assess the prevalence of chronic low back pain (CLBP) and related biopsychosocial factors in urban and rural communities in Benin. Methods This is a population-based observational cross-sectional survey. An interviewer-administered electronic questionnaire was used to collect information on demographic, socio-economic,...

Theoretical frameworks explain how pain-related psychological factors may influence physical performance. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we evaluated the evidence regarding the relationship between pain-related psychological factors and maximal physical performance in patients with low back pain (LBP). Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL and Web o...

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation strategies on disability, pain, pain-related fear, and return-to-work in patients undergoing lumbar fusion surgery for degenerative conditions or adult isthmic spondylolisthesis. Methods: Six electronic databases were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating...

Background Because pregnant women show a high risk of falling, some researchers examined their balance during static standing. This systematic review summarized the findings from all studies evaluating static balance in women during pregnancy and postpartum. Research question Do pregnant and postpartum women show differences in static balance comp...

Context Psychosocial parameters play an important role in the onset and persistence of chronic musculoskeletal disorders (CMSDs). Exercise therapy is a valuable therapeutic modality as part of CMSD rehabilitation. Hereby, exercise intensity is an important factor regarding changes in pain and disability in multiple CMSDs. However, the impact of exe...

Abstract Background Lumbopelvic pain (LPP) is common during pregnancy and can have long-lasting negative consequences in terms of disability and reduced quality of life. Therefore, it is crucial to identify women at risk of having pregnancy-related LPP after childbirth. This study aimed to investigate the association between body perception, pain i...

Background: It is difficult to evaluate the transversus abdominis (TrA) and internal oblique (IO) due to their dual role in both trunk control and breathing. Objectives: To investigate whether TrA and IO thickness as measured by ultrasound differs across the respiratory cycle in upright standing. Design: Observational study. Methods: Thickne...

Background: Electrocardiogram (ECG) contamination is present in diaphragm electromyography (EMGdi) recordings. Obtaining EMGdi without ECG contamination is crucial for EMG amplitude analysis. Manually selecting EMGdi in between QRS complexes has been most commonly applied in recent years (manual method). We developed a semi-automated analysis metho...

Objective: The first aim of this review was to investigate the association between age, sex, height, weight, physical activity level, posture, lumbar level and body side, and structural characteristics (cross-sectional area (CSA), thickness, linear dimensions and echo intensity) of the lumbar multifidus (LM) measured by ultrasound (US). Secondly,...

Patients with non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) show an impaired postural control during standing and a slower performance of sit-to-stand-to-sit (STSTS) movements. Research suggests that these impairments could be due to an altered use of ankle compared to back proprioception. However, the neural correlates of these postural control impairments i...

Purpose Bracing is frequently prescribed following lumbar surgery for degenerative conditions. However, previous studies failed to demonstrate the advantage of postoperative lumbar bracing in both short- and long-term outcome in terms of pain, quality of life and fusion rate. The purpose of this study was to assess the prescription patterns and rat...

Objectives: Patients with nonspecific low back pain (NSLBP) rely more on the ankle compared with the lower back proprioception while standing, perform sit-to-stand-to-sit (STSTS) movements slower, and exhibit perceptual impairments at the lower back. However, no studies investigated whether these sensorimotor impairments relate to a reorganization...

Introduction/Background Documentation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) components in physiotherapeutic electronic health records may improve interdisciplinary productivity and efficiency We examine the effect of targeted teaching and personalized feedback on physiotherapists’ completion of physiotherap...

Low back pain (LBP) coincides with sensorimotor impairments, e.g., reduced lumbosacral tactile and proprioceptive acuity and postural control deficits. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that sensorimotor impairments in LBP may be associated with brain changes. However, no consensus exists regarding the relationship...

Background: Disturbed body perception may play a role in the aetiology of chronic low back pain (LBP). The Fremantle Back Awareness Questionnaire (FreBAQ) is currently the only self-report questionnaire to assess back-specific body perception in individuals with LBP. Objectives: To perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the FreBAQ into Dutch. D...

The objective of this article was to investigate whether respiratory problems and signs correlate with the intensity of or disability due to low back pain (LBP). Patients with LBP, aged 20-80 years, were asked to take part in a cross-sectional observational study. The following variables were recorded in 104 patients: age, sex, weight, height, dail...

Het doel van deze preliminaire studie was na te gaan of ademhalingsproblemen en -parameters bij patiënten met lage rugpijn (LRP) gecorreleerd zijn aan de ernst van LRP. In een cohort van 104 patiënten met LRP werd een laag-normale maximale inspiratoire kracht („maximal inspiratory pressure” – MIP) gevonden. Daarnaast meldde 31,8% de aanwezigheid va...

Background and purpose: To date, most structural brain imaging studies in individuals with nonspecific low back pain have evaluated volumetric changes. These alterations are particularly found in sensorimotor-related areas. Although it is suggested that specific measures, such as cortical surface area and cortical thickness, reflect different unde...

Individuals with non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) show an impaired sensorimotor control. They need significantly more time to perform five consecutive sit-to-stand-to-sit (STSTS) movements compared to healthy controls. Optimal sensorimotor control depends on the co-activation of many brain regions, which have to operate as a co-ordinated network...

Background: Inspiratory muscles, such as the diaphragm, play a key role in both respiration and spinal control. Therefore, diaphragm dysfunctions are often related to low back pain (LBP). However, few is known on the association between the presence of LBP and the presence of respiratory disorders (RD). Objectives: To perform a systematic review...

Processing proprioceptive information in the brain is essential for optimal postural control and can be studied with proprioceptive stimulation, provided by muscle vibration, during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Classic electromagnetic muscle vibrators, however, cannot be used in the high-strength magnetic field of the fMRI scanner....

Individuals with non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) show a decreased sit-to-stand-to-sit performance. This dynamic sensorimotor task requires integration of sensory and motor information in the brain. Therefore, better understanding of the underlying central mechanisms of impaired sensorimotor control and the presence of NSLBP is needed. The aims o...

Postural control is a complex sensorimotor task that requires an intact network of white matter connections. The ability to weight proprioceptive signals is crucial for postural control. However, research into central processing of proprioceptive signals for postural control is lacking. This is specifically of interest in individuals with non-speci...

Purpose: We have shown that individuals with recurrent nonspecific low back pain (LBP) and healthy individuals breathing against an inspiratory load decrease their reliance on back proprioceptive signals in upright standing. Because individuals with LBP show greater susceptibility to diaphragm fatigue, it is reasonable to hypothesize that LBP, dia...

Functional activities, such as the sit-to-stand-to-sit (STSTS) task, are often impaired in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The STSTS task places a high demand on the postural control system, which has been shown to be impaired in individuals with COPD. It remains unknown whether postural control deficits contribute to...

The diaphragm plays an important role in spinal control. Increased respiratory demand compromises spinal control, especially in individuals with low back pain (LBP). The objective was to determine whether individuals with LBP exhibit greater diaphragm fatigability compared to healthy controls. Transdiaphragmatic twitch pressures (TwPdi) were record...

Purpose: Most healthy individuals show a multisegmental control strategy during challenging standing conditions, whereas others show a rigid ankle-steered strategy, which is assumed as suboptimal. Respiratory-demanding tasks exert a perturbing effect on balance, although the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study...

Introduction: Balance deficits are identified as important risk factors for falling in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the specific use of proprioception, which is of primary importance during balance control, has not been studied in individuals with COPD. The objective was to determine the specific proprioc...

Inspiratory muscle fatigue (IMF) may contribute to the development of exercise limitation and respiratory failure. Identifying fatigue of the inspiratory muscles requires a rigorous and integrative methodological approach. However, there is no consensus about an optimal protocol to induce and assess the fatigability of the inspiratory muscles. A sy...

INTRODUCTION: Foot drop from lumbar disc herniation (LDH): what and when to do? Our objective is to evaluate the prognostic factors of motor recovery in case of paralysing LDH. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 30 charts were retrospectively reviewed of patients suffering of LDH with motor deficit. We excluded LDH with cauda equina syndrome. RESULTS: There wer...

Optimal postural control is an essential capacity in daily life and can be highly variable. The purpose of this study was to investigate if young people have the ability to choose the optimal postural control strategy according to the postural condition and to investigate if non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) influences the variability in proprioce...

Back muscle fatigue decreases the postural stability during quiet standing, but it is not known whether this fatigue-induced postural instability is due to an altered proprioceptive postural control strategy. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate if acute back muscle fatigue may be a mechanism to induce or sustain a suboptimal propriocept...

A 2-group experimental design. To determine postural stability and proprioceptive postural control strategies of healthy subjects and subjects with recurrent low back pain (LBP) during acute inspiratory muscles fatigue (IMF). People with LBP use a more rigid proprioceptive postural control strategy than control subjects during postural perturbation...

Persons with recurrent low back pain (LBP) have been observed to have altered proprioceptive postural control. These patients seem to adopt a body and trunk stiffening strategy and rely more on ankle proprioception to control their posture during quiet upright standing. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of changing postural condition...

Insight into the mechanisms of altered postural control in persons with low back pain (LBP) could lead to better interventions for patients with LBP. This study investigated (1) whether persons with recurrent LBP have an altered body inclination, and (2) whether anticipation of postural instability further alters body inclination. Thirty-three youn...