The prevalence of low back pain and risk factors among adult population in Afyon region, Turkey

Objectives: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for low back pain (LBP) in a sample of Turkish population among adults living in the Afyon region, Turkey. Methods: A field screening investigation was performed in a total of 75 areas including the city center, 18 districts, and 57 associated small municipalities. Adequate sample size was determined as 1,990 and a total of 2,035 individu¬als (1,194 females, 841 males) were enrolled. Participants were inquired about age, occupation, sex, height, weight, history of LBP, hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. De¬pression symptoms were evaluated using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Results: The prevalence of lifetime LBP was 51%, and the prevalence of chronic LBP was 13.1%. Overall, 63.2% of women and 33.8% of men had LBP at least once in their lives (p=0.001). With regard to occupation, the highest incidence of LBP was seen in housewives (64.2%; p=0.0001), whose age and body mass index (BMI) were also higher compared to employed women. Depression (p=0.016) and increased BMI (p=0.000) were found to increase the risk for LBP, whereas smoking, hypertension, or diabetes were not correlated with the prevalence of LBP. Poverty was found to be the leading cause (39.7%) for not presenting to a physician. Conclusion: Among risk factors reported for LBP, many are also effective in Turkish population. Special attention should be given to the education of housewives in terms of low back protection, healthy nutrition, and family planning. Poverty seems to be a significant barrier to patient presentation to physicians, requiring extended social security coverage.