Thank you for your interest in the lumbar laterality study

The study team is Jane Bowering - physiotherapy honours student at the University of South Australia, Ian Fulton (MAppSc) and Lorimer Moseley (PhD) from the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia, David Butler (EdD) from the Neuro Orthopaedic Institute in Adelaide, and Halton Stewart - software research and development. We have come together to conduct a research project about back laterality.

Contact: Ian Fulton - Ian.Fulton@unisa.edu.au

Title of the study

‘Motor imagery: a surrogate measure of disrupted body schema?’

In plain English: Are the accuracy and response times for a person to judge whether a pictured model has their trunk turned or flexed to the left or right altered in people with a low back pain?

Aim of the study

To determine accuracy and response time in a normal healthy population, for making left/right trunk rotation/lateral flexion judgements and comparing it to the accuracy and response time of a population suffering from low back pain.

What we want you to do

This study is carried out online and you will be guided through a five step process. Initially you will be required to consent to participating in the study as well as consenting to the terms and conditions of the website. Next, we will ask you to fill out a questionnaire about yourself; including questions about your health and physical activity. Finally, you will be asked to respond to a series of photographs. The person in the photograph will have their trunk rotated or bent to one side. Indicate whether the trunk is rotated/bent to the left or to the right.

There are no known risks associated with participation in this research study. Participation in the study is voluntary. Participants also need to be aware that information collected from this study may be used in future studies. Participants will be able to withdraw from the study at any stage by just clicking the 'exit programme' link at the bottom of any of the web pages.

Some background information

There are a set of complex brain processes that are involved when a person is judging whether a picture of someone else's hand is a left or a right hand. The same applies when judging whether a pictured foot belongs to the left or the right, or if a person has their trunk rotated to the left or right.

There is a growing body of literature that links pain to a reduced ability to make left/right judgements of body parts. It is believed that a distorted representation of the body within the brain is responsible for this pain. So far, this relationship has been observed in people with arm pain and leg pain, but little research has investigated left/right judgements of trunk rotation/lateral flexion. This study aims to address this.

Left/right judgement have recently been introduced into a treatment program to help reduce pain in people suffering specific pain conditions. It is suggested that this method works by a process of reorganising the distorted image of the body within the brain.

There are three aims of this study:

  1. to establish baseline data for left/right judgements of trunk rotation/lateral flexion;
  2. to compare accuracy and response times between a group of healthy subjects, and a group of subjects suffering from back pain;
  3. to identify relationships between accuracy and response time of left/right rotation judgements and demographic and clinical variables.

Participant information

Be assured that your involvement in the study will be confidential and that you will remain anonymous. All data will be coded to a number only. Information collected as a part of the study will be retained for at least five years at the University of South Australia and at the Neuro Orthopaedic Institute in Adelaide, South Australia.

There are no known risks or side effects to subjects who participate in this study.

The researcher will take every care to remove responses from any identifying material as early as possible. Likewise individuals' responses will be kept confidential by the researcher and not be identified in the reporting of the research. However, the researcher cannot guarantee the confidentiality or anonymity of material transferred by email or the internet.

For any ethical concerns about the project or questions about the rights of participants please contact the Executive Officer of the UniSA ethics committee:

Ms Vicki Allen, Ethics and Compliance Officer
Research and Innovation Services
University of South Australia
 Mawson Lakes Campus
Mawson Lakes Boulevard
Mawson Lakes SA 5095
Tel: +61 8 8302 3118
Email: vicki.allen@unisa.edu.au

If you have any further questions about the study, please contact Ian Fulton at Ian.Fulton@unisa.edu.au