1 Department of Health, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
2 School of Health, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
3 Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation (CRIR), Montreal, QC, Canada.

Background: Student circus artists put constant stress on their back. However, the presence of low back pain (LBP) and related disability in this population remains unclear.

Objectives: To 1) examine LBP history in circus artists and compare related disability scores using the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the Athlete Disability Index (ADI), and 2) examine the correlation between LBP-related disability scores, pain intensity and pain catastrophizing.

Methods: Thirty-three circus students completed an online survey on demographics, training history, and LBP. Participants reporting LBP filled the ODI, ADI, numerical pain rating scale (NPRS), and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to assess the correlations between the ODI, ADI, NPRS, and PCS.

Results: There was a significant positive correlation between the ODI and ADI (r= 0.77, p< 0.001) and between the NPRS and ADI (r= 0.52, p= 0.03), but no correlation between NPRS and ODI. While the PCS scores were significantly correlated with the NPRS ((r= 0.71; p< 0.001) and the ADI (r= 0.51; p= 0.032), no correlation was observed between the PCS and ODI scores (p= 0.088). Based on the ODI scores, 94.44% of the artists reporting LBP were classified with mild disability, 5.56% moderate, and 0% severe disability as compared to 66.67%, 27.78% and 5.55% with the ADI, respectively.

Conclusion: Our study highlights the potential of the ADI as an effective tool for assessing LBP-related disability in circus artists, supported by a strong correlation with the NPRS.