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Rate of lumbar paravertebral muscle fat infiltration versus spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations: an age-aggregated cross-sectional simulation study

Overview of attention for article published in Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders, August 2016
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Title
Rate of lumbar paravertebral muscle fat infiltration versus spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations: an age-aggregated cross-sectional simulation study
Published in
Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders, August 2016
DOI 10.1186/s13013-016-0080-0
Pubmed ID
Authors

Rebecca J. Crawford, Thomas Volken, Stephanie Valentin, Markus Melloh, James M Elliott

Abstract

The spinal column including its vertebrae and disks has been well examined and extensively reported in relation to age-aggregated degeneration. In contrast, paravertebral muscles are poorly represented in describing normative degeneration. Increasing evidence points to the importance of paravertebral muscle quality in low back health, and their potential as a modifiable factor in low back pain (LBP). Studies examining normative decline of paravertebral muscles are needed to advance the field's etiological understanding. With a novel approach and based on published data, we establish and compare decline rates of imaging features for degeneration of lumbar vertebrae and disks, versus fatty infiltration in paravertebral muscles in asymptomatic adults. Our cross-sectional simulation study examined age-aggregated data from three published studies who reported on asymptomatic adults spanning 18-60 years. Prevalence rates of imaging degenerative features of the spinal column were examined via logistic regression and compared with percentage fatty infiltration in erector spinae, multifidus and psoas using synthetic data and Monte Carlo simulation with 10,000 endpoint-specific regression iterations. General linear regression models were employed to estimate marginal effects of age reported as a one-year change rate (with 95 % confidence intervals) for comparisons between all reported spinal features. Declines in multifidus (0.24 & 0.11 %/year), erector spinae (0.13 & 0.07 %/year), and psoas (0.04 %/year) occur at similarly slow rates to disk protrusion (0.25 %/year), annular fissure (0.15 %/year), and spondylolisthesis (0.29 %/year). Multifidus showed a trend for faster decline than erector spinae, particularly in men. Of the features examined, disk signal loss declined fastest, and psoas muscle the slowest. Degeneration of lumbar paravertebral muscles occurs slowly in asymptomatic adults, with a tendency to be most pronounced in multifidus. Rate of decline of spinal structures represents a novel variable that warrants inclusion as a known feature of the expected degenerative cascade, and to provide a basis for comparison to diseases of the spine in research and clinical practice. Concurrent examination of spinal features using advanced imaging to improve muscle analysis would be a strong addition to the field.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 56 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 1 2%
Unknown 55 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Other 12 21%
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 14%
Student > Master 5 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 4 7%
Lecturer 4 7%
Other 10 18%
Unknown 13 23%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 21 38%
Nursing and Health Professions 6 11%
Engineering 4 7%
Neuroscience 3 5%
Sports and Recreations 2 4%
Other 7 13%
Unknown 13 23%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 August 2016.
All research outputs
#14,206,320
of 22,881,964 outputs
Outputs from Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders
#48
of 97 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#214,865
of 366,897 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders
#4
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,881,964 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 37th percentile – i.e., 37% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 97 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 366,897 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 63% of its contemporaries.