Low back pain associated with sociodemographic factors, lifestyle and osteoporosis: a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence and factors associated with low back pain among adults in Taiwan.


METHODS
The National Health Interview Survey, a cross-sectional study, was conducted from October 2002 to March 2003 to gather data from 24,435 adults aged 20 years and older selected randomly from Taiwan's general population. Participants with history of low back pain were assessed using a comprehensive questionnaire. Additional assessment of osteoporosis diagnosed by physician was also evaluated.


RESULTS
Among the 24,435 adults, 25.7% had reported low back pain within the past 3 months. Factors associated with low back pain included female gender (odds ratio (OR) = 1.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.43-1.95), low education (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.23-1.55), and blue-collar work (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.07-1.26). Patients with osteoporosis were more likely than those without osteoporosis to have low back pain (OR = 2.55, 95% CI = 2.33-2.78) or frequent low back pain (OR = 4.15, 95% CI = 3.66-4.70). The ORs of frequent low back pain in association with osteoporosis in men and women were 5.77 (95% CI = 4.66-7.15) and 3.49 (95% CI = 2.99-4.07), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Low back pain is prevalent among Taiwanese adults and is associated with osteoporosis.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yi-Chun
YC
Chou
Chun-Chuan
CC
Shih
Jaung-Geng
JG
Lin
Ta-Liang
TL
Chen
Chien-Chang
CC
Liao
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult