Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

In clinical occupational rehabilitation practice, an association between abdominal hysterectomy and current chronic low back pain has been observed. When performing an abdominal hysterectomy, the surgeon makes an incision in the lower abdomen cutting throught the core abdominal muscles. These muscles align the spine, chest and pelvis and resist forces applied to the body. They also provide stabilization for the low back during functional movements. Six weeks after hysterectomy, women return to full work duties usually without rehabilitation for core muscles. The study population will be healthcare workers as they have heavy physical job demands where core muscle function is crucial for safe patient handling. Core muscle strength will be compared between individuals with and without hysterectomy and a pilot study of a post-hysterectomy core muscle training intervention will be completed. Implemention of a rehabilitation program following surgery is a cost-effective back injury prevention strategy and this could improve the health and quality of life of these workers as well as to reduce costs associated with lost time injuries.