MATERIAL and METHODS: One hundred eighty participants aged 20 to 60 years were evaluated in this study. Group-I consisted of 90 consecutive patients who had chronic low back pain for ≥3 months. Group II included 90 sedentary and healthy controls. The severity of pain was measured with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). We used the Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale to evaluate perception of kinesiophobia and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) to determine the level of disability. The Sit-Ups test was used to evaluate abdominal muscle endurance.

RESULTS: The mean level of pain in the patients according to VAS was 3.59±2.59 at rest and 6.67±2.43 during activity. The mean Oswestry Disability Index score was 22.60±8.85. A negative highly significant relationship was found between abdominal muscle endurance and severity of pain during activity (p= 0.000) in patients with chronic low back pain. We found a significant difference between Group-I and Group-II in terms of abdominal muscle endurance (p=0.000) and perception of kinesiophobia (p=0.000).

CONCLUSION: Low abdominal muscle endurance influences the severity of pain in patients with chronic low back pain. Anahtar Kelimeler : Abdominal muscle endurance, Chronic low back pain, Oswestry disability index