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OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the typical strategies of obese subjects during a sit-to-stand task (a typical daily living activity) and to assess the load conditions of hip, knee and ankle joints. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, controlled (obese patients vs controls) study on sit-to-stand movement analysis SUBJECTS: Ten adult young volunteers (®ve men and ®ve women, mean age 28, s.d. 3 y; mean BMI 22, s.d. 2.3 kgam 2 ) and 30 obese subjects 25 women and ®ve men, mean age 39.4, s.d. 13.7 y, mean BMI 40, s.d. 5.9 kgam 2 ) suffering from chronic lower back pain were analyzed in a sit-to-stand task (10 trials for each subject). MEASUREMENTS: Angle parameters carried out from a quantitative three-dimensional analysis of sit-to-stand (STS) movement, using an optoelectronic system. RESULTS: STS task in controls was characterized by a fully forward bending strategy of the trunk, while in obese patients at the beginning (®rst trial) of the STS task they limited the forward bending in order to protect the vertebral column. When fatigue increased during the execution of multiple STS tasks, the protection of the vertebral column was secondary to the execution of the task. In order to limit the muscle fatigue they increased the forward bending in order to decrease knee joint torque. DISCUSSION: The analysis of the strategy used by obese patients in STS task can be used in the design of future trials to assess the ef®cacy of rehabilitative treatment.

The protocol can be applied to a variety of facial movements, including speaking. Future works could address the use of the protocol in subjects with disorders and the integrated analysis of kinematic parameters and voice spectrography.

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