A cross-sectional study on low back pain among adults in Beijing

Abstract

Objective To investigate the prevalence of low back pain among adults in Beijing.Methods The study design was a cross-sectional study,and the multi-stage sampling was used.A questionnaire survey was conducted in December 2010 to investigate prevalence of low back pain in adults who had lived in Beijing for over 6 months.Total prevalence and prevalence by region,gender and age were calculated.The chi-square test was used to compare results.Results A total of 3860 people were enrolled in this study.The one-year prevalence of low back pain was 26.09％ (1007/3860),and the point prevalence was 6.11％ (236/3860).The prevalence of different duration of low back pain (3 months,3-6 months,≥6 months) was 16.76％ (647/3860),4.12％ (159/3860) and 5.21％ (201/3860),respectively.The prevalence of females (28.83％) was higher than that of males (23.03％).The prevalence among different regions was significantly different.Prevalence in suburb and rural area (29.88％ and 27.54％,respectively) was higher than that in urban area (20.88％).No matter males or females,the prevalence in urban area was the lowest (17.48％ and 24.00％,respectively).With the increasing of age,the prevalence of low back pain became higher.In males,the prevalence of 55 to 59 years group was highest,while 60 to 64 years group was highest in females.In urban area and rural area,the prevalence of 60 to 64 years group was highest (34.43％ and 48.68％,respectively),while 55 to 59 years group was highest in suburb (47.26％).Conclusion The oneyear and point prevalence of low back pain among adults in Beijing are higher,with wide distribution.The chronic low back pain is more common.The prevalence of low back pain is higher in suburb and rural area.Females have a higher prevalence than males.Moreover,the prevalence of low back pain increases with age. Key words: Cross-sectional studies; Low back pain; Prevalence