title: The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the global burden of low back pain (LBP).
  
  
  METHODS
  LBP was defined as pain in the area on the posterior aspect of the body from the lower margin of the twelfth ribs to the lower glutaeal folds with or without pain referred into one or both lower limbs that lasts for at least one day. Systematic reviews were performed of the prevalence, incidence, remission, duration, and mortality risk of LBP. Four levels of severity were identified for LBP with and without leg pain, each with their own disability weights. The disability weights were applied to prevalence values to derive the overall disability of LBP expressed as years lived with disability (YLDs). As there is no mortality from LBP, YLDs are the same as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of all 291 conditions studied in the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study, LBP ranked highest in terms of disability (YLDs), and sixth in terms of overall burden (DALYs). The global point prevalence of LBP was 9.4% (95% CI 9.0 to 9.8). DALYs increased from 58.2 million (M) (95% CI 39.9M to 78.1M) in 1990 to 83.0M (95% CI 56.6M to 111.9M) in 2010. Prevalence and burden increased with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LBP causes more global disability than any other condition. With the ageing population, there is an urgent need for further research to better understand LBP across different settings.
authors.affiliation: University of Queensland, School of Population Health, , Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: March
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Blyth
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bain
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barendregt
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burstein
authors.forename: Rachelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buchbinder
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D012044:Regression Analysis
keywords: Epidemiology; Low Back Pain; Outcomes Research