Prevalence of low back pain in older Brazilians: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND
Prevalence of low back pain (LBP) is expected to increase worldwide with aging of the population but its prevalence in older people is not clear, mainly in developing countries.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of LBP in older Brazilians.


METHODS
Electronic searches on SciELO, LILACS, MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL, as well as hand-searching identified studies investigating prevalence of LBP in older Brazilians aged 60 years or over. Two independent reviewers selected studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria, assessed risk of bias for each included study and extracted relevant data. Meta-analysis was conducted when enough homogeneity allowed and the GRADE system was used to summarize the overall quality of the evidence.


RESULTS
Sixteen studies were included with a total of 28,448 participants. Data from point- and period-prevalence of LBP were obtained. Meta-analysis was conducted for 13 studies reporting point-prevalence. Pooled point-prevalence of LBP was 25.0% (95% CI 18.0-32.0). Other three studies investigated period-prevalence: one-week prevalence=15.0% (95% CI 13.0-18.0); six-month prevalence=43.0% (95% CI 42.0-44.0); and 12-month prevalence=13.0% (95% CI 11.0-16.0). Sensitivity analyses were performed for point-prevalence and exclusion of studies with poorer methodological quality tended to increase the estimated prevalence of LBP.


CONCLUSIONS
Moderate-quality evidence showed that at any point in time one in four older Brazilians suffers from LBP. This was the first systematic review investigating nationwide data on the prevalence of LBP in older people and contributes important clinical and epidemiological evidence for policymakers.
The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: aoliveiraleopoldino@gmail.com.
Amanda Aparecida Oliveira
AA
Leopoldino
Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Juliano Bergamaschine Mata
JB
Diz
Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Vítor Tigre
VT
Martins
Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Nicholas
N
Henschke
Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Leani Souza Máximo
LS
Pereira
Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Rosângela Correa
RC
Dias
Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Vinícius Cunha
VC
Oliveira
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence
Brasil; Brazil; Idosos; Lombalgia; Low back pain; Older people; Prevalence; Prevalência; Revisão sistemática; Systematic review