title: Prevalence of lower back pain and physical inactivity: the impact of psychosocial factors in pregnant women served by the Family Health Strategy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study analyzed the impact of psychosocial factors on pregnant women with lower back pain and an associated lack of physical activity prior to pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 66 pregnant women who were randomly selected from a total of 84 patients in the waiting rooms of the Family Health Units in Cuitegí, Paraíba, from September to November 2009. An epidemiological questionnaire adapted from the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale was used for data collection. The questions about back pain, physical activity, and psychosocial factors were emphasized. SPSS 16.0 was used for the data analysis. The prevalence of lower back pain and its relationship to gestational age, habitual physical activity, and psychosocial factors were studied using the descriptive statistics and relative percentages in the SPSS Crosstabs procedure. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval for lower back pain were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of lower back pain was 75%, which suggests that psychosocial factors were related to the presence of pain. Anxiety was reported in 42.8% of the women with lower back pain, and 38.7% of the women with lower back pain experienced physical fatigue at the end of the day. A higher percentage of pain (53%) was noted in the women who did not exercise prior to pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lower back pain prior to pregnancy is associated with lack of physical activity and with psychosocial factors in the Family Health Strategy patients of Cuitegí county.
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitário de João Pessoa - UNIPÊ, João Pessoa, PB, BR.
authors.forename: Wilma Ferreira Guedes
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Alfredo Pinto School of Nursing, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UNIRIO, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BR.
authors.forename: Leila Rangel da
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Center for Research and Experimentation and in Woman and Child Health Studies - NuPEEMC, BR.
authors.forename: Maria Aparecida de Luca
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Movement Biosciences - LABIMH, BR.
authors.forename: Carlos Soares
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Pernambuco
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Movement Biosciences - LABIMH, BR.
authors.forename: Tania Santos
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Giani
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Movement Biosciences - LABIMH, BR.
authors.forename: Estélio Henrique Martin
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Dantas