THE STE-JUSTINE ADOLESCENT IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS COHORT STUDY .3. BACKPAIN

Objectives. This study determined health and well being of persons wit h adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) more than 10 years after refer ral. This communication will present results related to back pain. Stu dy Design. This study was designed as a comparative retrospective coho rt study. Subjects referred for AIS between 1960 and 1979 to a large p ediatric hospital in Montreal, Quebec, were entered into the cohort. A population-based control group was selected from the general populati on of Quebec using a telephone survey. Study Design. Back pain was ass essed by postal questionnaires administered, in 1990, to the AIS cohor t and to the control group. Most outcomes were ordinal and, thus, odds ratios were estimated using ordinal regression while adjusting for po tential confounding factors. Results. Among the 1,476 AIS subjects res ponding, 73% experienced one or more episodes of back pain in the past year, significantly more than the 1,755 controls (56%); for current b ack pain, these proportions were also significantly different: 44% for AIS subjects and 24% for controls. In comparison to controls, AIS sub jects reported pain that was more intense, continuous, generalized thr oughout the back, and radiating into the extremities. AIS subjects wer e also more restricted in many usual daily activities. Little variabil ity was observed in the prevalence of current back pain and back pain in the past year according to treatment and degree of curvature. Diffi culty with managing pain, lifting, walking, and socializing was, howev er, associated with severity. The results of this study suggest that b ack pain is responsible for a considerable amount of disability and ha ndicap in later life. Health professionals involved with the managemen t of persons with AIS need to consider this important outcome and need to put in place procedures for the identification, investigation, pre vention, and treatment of back pain.