Functional disability due to back pain. a population-based study indicating the importance of socioeconomic factors

✍ Scribed by Richard A. Deyo; Yuh-Jane Tsui-Wu

• Book ID: 102751540
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 705 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780301107

✦ Synopsis

Using national survey data, we examined correlates of disability due to low back pain in 1,516 persons who had back pain. Greater education level correlated significantly (P < 0.001) with fewer disability days (i.e., day,s of activity limitation, absence from work, confinement to bed, or reduced housework), even after cantrol-Ling for severity, sciatica, occupation, and age. Findings in men differed from those in women; education level was a strong correlate for men only. For work absenteeism, low income was a stronger correlate than education. These data support the importance of social factors in the prognosis of some musculoskeletal diseases.

Back pain is a pervasively common disorder. It is the second leading cause of all physician visits (1) and the most frequent complaint among patients when they first visit a rheumatologist (2). Back pain is also a major cause of functional disability. It is second only to upper respiratory complaints as a cause of work