Exploring Locomotion Behavior of Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain (cNSLBP) Patients While Walking Through Apertures in Different Configurations: Influence of Environmental and Social Factors.

The biomechanical parameters studied in chronic non-specific low back pain (cNSLBP) patients in a locomotion task have so far focused on straight line walking. Although locomotion is primarily an automated action composed of repetitive patterns allowing movement from one place to another, walkers must respond to the environmental demands.These modifications show a flexible and adaptive approach to the constraints of the environment. This study focuses on a crossing task through different horizontal openings, varying the environmental context (two opening widths: one narrow and one wide) and the social context by placing an experimenter in the center of the two openings for some trials. The primary objective was to determine whether the cNSLBP affects the participant's decision to cross one of the two apertures as a function of the width of the aperture and the presence or absence of an experimenter. The secondary aim was twofold, firstly to study the kinematic variables of walking and secondly to assess the influence of pain perception variables on the choice of aperture crossed.