Low Back Pain Linked to
Stress in Young Adulthood

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Stress in your 20s may lead to low back pain in your 30s, according to the results of a UK study.

Dr. Chris Power of the University College of London and colleagues interviewed more than 5,700 33-year-old men and women about a variety of physical and psychological variables. Of this group, 571, or about 10%, reported experiencing low back pain for the first time during the year before the interview. All of the study participants had been interviewed 10 years earlier, when they were 23 years old.

People who reported feeling psychological distress at age 23 were 2.5 times more likely to report having low back pain at age 33, according to the report in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health, journal of the American Public Health Association.

The researchers note that a number of factors can contribute to psychological distress in young adulthood, including low socioeconomic status in childhood, poor academic achievement and behavior problems at school, and early childbearing and single parenthood.

Persistent moderate and heavy smoking also increased the risk of lower back pain. ``Uncertainty exists as to whether smoking plays a causal role in the development of low back pain or whether it is an indicator of other factors affecting pain onset, such as psychosocial problems,'' the authors write.

``Until other prospective studies of similar scope provide independent confirmation, however, caution should be applied in drawing conclusions for preventive interventions,'' Power and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2001;91:1671-1678.

Reference Source 89

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