title: Consequences of spinal pain: do age and gender matter? A Danish cross-sectional population-based study of 34,902 individuals 20-71 years of age.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While low back pain (LBP) and neck pain (NP) have been extensively studied, knowledge on mid back pain (MBP) is still lacking. Furthermore, pain from these three spinal areas is typically studied or reported separately and in depth understanding of pain from the entire spine and its consequences is still needed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe self-reported consequences of pain in the three spinal regions in relation to age and gender.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional postal survey, comprising 34,902 twin individuals, representative of the general Danish adult population. The variables of interest in relation to consequences of spinal pain were: Care-seeking, reduced physical activity, sick-leave, change in work situation, and disability pension.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost two-thirds of individuals with spinal pain did not report any consequence. Generally, consequences due to LBP were more frequently reported than those due to NP or MBP. Regardless of area of complaint, care seeking and reduced physical activities were the most commonly reported consequences, followed by sick-leave, change of work, and disability pension. There was a small mid-life peak for care-seeking and a slow general increase in reduced activities with increasing age. Increasing age was not associated with a higher reporting of sick-leave but the duration of the sick-leave increased somewhat with age. Disability pension due to spinal pain was reported exceedingly rare before the age of 50. Typically, women slightly more often than men reported some kind of consequences due to spinal pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most people reporting spinal pain manage without any serious consequences. Low back pain more commonly results in some kind of consequence when compared to NP and MBP. Few age-related trends in consequences were seen with a slight predominance of women reporting consequences.
authors.affiliation: The Research Department, the Spine Centre of Southern Denmark, Hospital Lillebaelt, Middelfart, Denmark.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leboeuf-Yde
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fejer
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Kirsten O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Kyvik
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hartvigsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult