Low Back Pain, Health Status, and Quality of Life in Older Adults: Challenge and Opportunity

Abstract

The medical literature about low back pain (LBP) is extensive for good reason. LBP is the most common condition in pain medicine and spine specialty practices, but also commonly presents in other specialty practices, such as rheumatology and neurology, as well as in primary care practice. Moreover, unlike many other serious medical problems, the discussion about LBP and its treatment extends beyond medicine to legal and economic forums and even into the political arena. This wider consideration occurs because of LBP's impact on the societal burden of rising health care costs. LBP accounts for more work-related disability than any other health condition, causing it to be the single most costly health problem in the United States and the most costly health burden to businesses. Moreover, LBP is at the center of business-labor disputes over the rights of workers to obtain compensation and medical care once injured on the job versus the rights of businesses to avoid paying compensation to workers who have been injured but then recovered. These disputes spill over into the politics of every state, where workers' compensation programs are administered, and even into economic theory [1,2]. Understandably, its economic salience is the principal reason why most LBP research has focused on working age adults. This research has paid off. Although LBP remains a serious occupational health problem, we have made great strides in learning how to prevent low back injury at work, how to treat acute …