title: Epidemiology of restricting back pain in community-living older persons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the incidence of back pain leading to restricted activity (restricting back pain) in community-living older persons and to characterize its descriptive epidemiology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Greater New Haven, Connecticut.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred fifty nondisabled, community-living men and women aged 70 and older who did not report restricting back pain at baseline.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were interviewed monthly for over 10 years to ascertain the cumulative incidence, time to first episode, incidence rates (first and repeat episodes), and duration of restricting back pain. Cumulative incidence (proportions) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and incidence rates (per 1,000 person-months) were estimated using a Poisson regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the more than 10 years of follow-up (median 107 months), the cumulative incidence of restricting back pain was 77.3% for men and 81.7% for women. The median time to the first episode was significantly shorter in women (25 months) than men (49 months) (P=.01). The incidence rates of restricting back pain per 1,000 person-months were 32.9 overall-24.4 for men and 37.5 for women (P<.001). There were no differences according to baseline age group. Of the 1,528 total episodes of restricting back pain, the median duration was 1.0 month, and only 6.4% lasted for 3 or more consecutive months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Restricting back pain in older persons is common, short-lived, and frequently episodic. The burden of restricting back pain is greater in older women than older men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. una.makris@yale.edu
authors.forename: Una E
authors.initials: UE
authors.lastname: Makris
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fraenkel
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leo-Summers
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D017678:Sex Distribution