Psychosocial factors and low back pain among college students.
OBJECTIVE
The authors evaluated psychosocial factors of stress and their effects on the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among a population of college students in a major university in Colorado.


METHODS
This was a nested cross-sectional study of 973 respondents who completed the National College Health Assessment survey. The authors evaluated a subset of questions pertaining to psychosocial stressors against the presence of LBP.


RESULTS
The annual prevalence of LBP among the population studied was 42.8%. The stressful psychosocial variables of feeling very sad, exhausted, and overwhelmed were associated with the prevalence of LBP.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of LBP among this younger population is significant and understudied.
Kennedy
Catherine
C
Department of Health and Exercise Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Kassab
Osama
O
Gilkey
David
D
Linnel
Sheri
S
Morris
Debra
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult