Smoking and overweight as predictors of hospitalization for back disorders.
METHODS
A prospective cohort study.


OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship of smoking and overweight with severe back disorders leading to hospitalization.


BACKGROUND
Many epidemiological studies have shown an association between smoking or overweight and back pain, but the results are still equivocal. Longitudinal studies are few.


METHODS
A cohort of metal industry employees (n = 902) was studied for lifestyle, work history, and health in 1973 by questionnaire and interview. The weight of the subjects was measured and body mass index (kg/m2) was calculated. Based on intensity and duration, smoking was categorized as: never smoked (reference), stopped smoking, smoked <or=9 or >9 pack-years. Information on hospital admissions from 1973 to 2000 from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register was linked to the data. Seventy-five individuals had been admitted to hospital because of back disorders. Intervertebral disc disorders and other common back disorders were analyzed separately. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the time between the assessment of potential risk factors and the first hospitalization for a back disorder.


RESULTS
The rate ratio of heavy smokers (>9 pack-years) for hospitalization because of intervertebral disc disorders was 3.4 (95% confidence interval 1.3-9.0) as compared with never-smokers, allowing for other risk factors. Accordingly, the rate ratio of body mass index >27.5 kg/m2 was 2.7 (1.1-6.45) as compared with people with normal weight. The results retained when patients with chronic back disease at baseline were excluded from the analyses. Other back-related diagnoses of hospitalization were not consistently associated with smoking or overweight.


CONCLUSIONS
Heavy smoking and overweight predicted hospitalization for intervertebral disc disorders.
Kaila-Kangas
Leena
L
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. Leena.Kaila-Kangas@ttl.fi
Leino-Arjas
Päivi
P
Riihimäki
Hilkka
H
Luukkonen
Ritva
R
Kirjonen
Juhani
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001416:Back Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*