MethodsWe collected a representative sample of 198 university-agestudents in São Paulo, Brazil. The sample consisted of malesand females aged between 18 and 29. Individuals with priordiagnosis of some spinal illness or low back pain suggestiveof secondary causes, sciatica sufferers and those who hadpreviously undergone spinal surgery were excluded from thestudy.As diagnostic criteria for nonspecific chronic low back pain,we used the persistence of pain over a period of three months,in a region of the back between the lowermost rib and thegluteal fold.18In accordance with chronic low back pain diagnoses, sub-jects were separated into two groups: