Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface
This supplement was made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from St. Jude Medical NeuromodulationEpidemiology of Low Back Pain in Adults
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
Spinal disorders, especially low back pain, affect many people and have a negative impact on work capacity and on the overall well-being of an individual. Coupled with escalating health-care costs, low back pain frequently results in a significant impairment of physical and psychological health, and a decline in the performance of social responsibilities including work and family (1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 9., 10., 11., 12., 13., 14., 15., 16.). Consequently, low back pain remains one of
PREVALENCE
A global review of the prevalence of low back pain in the adult general population was published in 2012 (2). It showed a point prevalence of 11.9% ± 2.0% and a one-month prevalence of 23.2% ± 2.9% after adjusting for methodological variation. The overall mean prevalence was 31.0% ± 0.6%, the one-year prevalence was 38.0% ± 19.4%, and the lifetime prevalence was 39.9% ± 24.3%. Low back pain was shown to be a major problem throughout the world, with the highest prevalence among women and those
COURSE AND PROGNOSIS
The duration of back pain and its chronicity have been debated. It is widely believed that most episodes are short-lived, with 80% to 90% of attacks resolving in about six weeks, irrespective of the administration or type of treatment, with only 5% to 10% of patients developing persistent back pain (52,53). However, this concept has been frequently examined, as the condition tends to relapse and because most patients will experience multiple episodes (18,54., 55., 56., 57., 58., 59., 60., 61.,
RISK FACTORS
Low back pain is a multifactorial disorder with many possible etiologies. Consequently, to analyze the various risk factors of low back pain and dissect this 20th-century health-care enigma, many epidemiologic studies have focused on risk factors for low back pain, attempting to analyze occupational, nonoccupational, and psychosocial factors (1,3,4,6,18,20,21,34,64., 65., 66., 67., 68., 69., 70., 71., 72., 73., 74., 75., 76., 77.). Cohen et al. (71) concluded that the risk factors for
HEALTH AND ECONOMIC IMPACT
Low back pain is associated with significant economic, societal, and health outcomes (8., 9., 10., 11., 12., 13., 14., 15.,17,18,28,30., 31., 32., 33.,40,45,78,95., 96., 97., 98.,120., 121., 122., 123., 124., 125., 126., 127., 128., 129., 130., 131., 132.).
Leigh (10), in a 2011 publication assessing data from 2007, evaluated the economic burden of occupational injury and illness in the USA. In this updated evaluation he showed that the costs were more than $290 billion. The total estimated
CONCLUSION
Chronic low back pain has a profound effect on each and every facet of human life. The overall costs of managing low back pain are escalating. The evidence shows increasing awareness, prevalence, chronicity, and perceived severity with resulting disability. Multiple comorbid factors including lifestyle and social factors, occupational factors, and psychosocial factors influence overall prevalence and outcomes.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Vidyasagar Pampati, MSc, for statistical assistance, Sekar Edem for assistance in the search of the literature, Alvaro F. Gómez, MA, for manuscript review, and Tonie M. Hatton and Diane E. Neihoff, transcriptionists, for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.
Authorship Statements
Dr. Manchikanti conducted and prepared the manuscript. Drs. Singh, Falco, Benyamin, and Hirsch provided intellectual input and edits to the manuscript. All authors had final approval of the
REFERENCES (134)
- et al.
Factors defining care-seeking in low back pain—a meta-analysis of population based surveys
Eur J Pain
(2010) - et al.
Do patients with chronic low back pain have an altered level and/or pattern of physical activity compared to healthy individuals? A systematic review of the literature
Physiotherapy
(2012) - et al.
The economic costs of pain in the United States
J Pain
(2012) - et al.
The economic burden of back pain in the UK
Pain
(2000) - et al.
A systematic review of low back pain cost of illness studies in the United States and internationally
Spine J
(2008) - et al.
An epidemiologic comparison of pain complaints
Pain
(1988) - et al.
Grading the severity of chronic pain
Pain
(1992) - et al.
Development of and recovery from long-term pain. A 6-year follow-up study of a cross-section of the adult Danish population
Pain
(2004) - et al.
The frequency, trajectories and predictors of adolescent recurrent pain: a population-based approach
Pain
(2008) - et al.
The course of low back pain in a general population. Results from a 5-year prospective study
J Manipulative Physiol Ther
(2003)
A systematic review of the relation between physical capacity and future low back and neck/shoulder pain
Pain
Epidemiology of chronic pain: a population-based nationwide study on its prevalence, characteristics and associated disability in Portugal
J Pain
Low-back-pain related disability: an integration of psychological risk factors into the stress process model
Pain
The Twin Spine Study: contributions to a changing view of disc degeneration
Spine J
Lifestyle risk factors predict healthcare costs in an aging cohort
Am J Prev Med
Do psychological factors increase the risk for back pain in the general population in both a cross-sectional and prospective analysis?
Eur J Pain
Comprehensive review of epidemiology, scope, and impact of spinal pain
Pain Physician
A systematic review of the global prevalence of low back pain
Arthritis Rheum
Individuals with chronic low back pain have greater difficulty in engaging in positive lifestyle behaviours than those without back pain: an assessment of health literacy
BMC Musculoskelet Disord
“What do you expect? You’re just getting older”: a comparison of perceived osteoarthritis-related and aging-related health experiences in middle- and older-age adults
Arthritis Rheum
Pain in the three spinal regions: the same disorder? Data from a population-based sample of 34,902 Danish adults
Chiropr Man Therap
Expenditures and health status among adults with back and neck problems
JAMA
Trends in health care expenditures, utilization, and health status among US adults with spine problems, 1997–2006
Spine
Economic burden of occupational injury and illness in the United States
Milbank Q
National trends in occupational injuries before and after 1992 and predictors of workers’ compensation costs
Public Health Rep
societal costs of low back pain: data published between 2001 and 2007
J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother
Low back pain in primary care: costs of care and prediction of future health care utilization
Spine
Relationship between ambulatory performance and self-rated disability in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis
Spine
Functional limitations and disability among elders in the Framingham Study
Am J Public Health
Epidemiology of back pain in a representative cohort of Italian persons 65 years of age and older: the InCHIANTI study
Spine
The prevalence of low back pain in the elderly. A systematic review of the literature
Spine
Does back pain prevalence really decrease with increasing age? A systematic review
Age Ageing
Back pain prevalence and visit rates: estimates from U.S. national surveys, 2002
Spine
The Saskatchewan Health and Back Pain Survey. The prevalence of low back pain and related disability in Saskatchewan adults
Spine
Newest knowledge of low back pain. A critical look
Clin Orthop
Occupational injury and illness in the United States. Estimates of costs, morbidity, and mortality
Arch Intern Med
Back pain among workers in the United States. National estimates and workers at high risk
Am J Ind Med
Cost of compensated injuries and occupational diseases in agriculture in Finland
J Agromedicine
Occupational disease and workers’ compensation: coverage, costs, and consequences
Milbank Q
Costs of occupational injury and illness across states
J Occup Environ Med
Costs differences across demographic groups and types of occupational injuries and illnesses
Am J Ind Med
Costs by industry and diagnosis among musculoskeletal claims in a state workers compensation system: 1999–2004
Am J Ind Med
The rising prevalence of chronic low back pain
Arch Intern Med
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System: centers for Disease Control
Biomechanical and psychosocial risk factors for low back pain at work
Am J Public Health
Pain characteristics of adults 65 years of age and older referred to a tertiary care pain clinic
Pain Res Manag
Back pain, a communicable disease?
Int J Epidemiol
Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2011
Overtreating chronic back pain: time to back off?
J Am Board Fam Med
Opioid epidemic in the United States
Pain Physician
Cited by (410)
Acute low back pain: Epidemiology, etiology, and prevention: WFNS spine committee recommendations
2024, World Neurosurgery: XValidity of evaluating spinal kinetics without participant-specific kinematics
2023, Journal of Biomechanics
For more information on author guidelines, an explanation of our peer review process, and conflict of interest informed consent policies, please go to http://www.wiley.com/bw/submit.asp?ref=1094-7159&site=1
Disclaimer: There was no external funding in preparation of this manuscript.