The Influence of Gender and Age on Lumbar Lordosis: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Objective: The researchers aimed to verify the mean values and range of Cobb’s angle to measure the lumbar lordosis on magnetic resonance (MR) images and to reveal any possible differences between genders or among age groups regarding the lumbar lordosis. Methods: After exclusions, 527 patients, with a mean age of 48.73 ± 14.65 years, were measured for lumbar lordosis using the Cobb’s angle of L1-S1 levels of the spine on MR images. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was performed to verify the data distribution properties. The comparison of the female and the male group was considered by the Mann-Whitney U test and the correlation with age was revealed using Spearman’s Rho test. Results: Cobb’s angle measurements revealed a mean value of 51.45 ± 10.71 degrees. Regarding the angle measurement results, the female group had higher lordosis than the male group (P < 0.001). A low grade, positive, and significant correlation between age and the Cobb’s angle was observed for the total study population and the male group. A moderate, positive, and significant correlation between age and lordotic angle measurement results was reached for the female group. Conclusion: Females had higher lumbar lordosis than males and age is positively correlated with lumbar lordosis according to the results of this investigation. Many other scientific investigations are required to verify the outcome of this research to ensure the mean value and the normal ranges of Cobb’s angle.