AT WHAT AGE DOES LOW-BACK-PAIN BECOME A COMMON PROBLEM - A STUDY OF 29,424 INDIVIDUALS AGED 12-41 YEARS

Study Design., cross-sectional study was performed in a Danish populat ion of individuals 12-41 years of age. Objectives, To study the lifeti me cumulative incidence, the 1-year period prevalence, and point preva lence of low back pain in the general population ana-tb investigate wh ether there were any differences in the occurrence of low back pain th at were related to age and gender, especially in young individuals. Su mmary of Background Data. The epidemiologic literature fails to provid e a credible estimate of the prevalence of low back pain in children a nd adolescents compared with that of adults. Methods. A postal questio nnaire was sent to 34,076 twins who were born between 1953 and 1982 an d listed in the population-based Danish Twin register. The response ra te was 86%. Results. The prevalence of the various definitions of low back pain increased greatly in the early teen years (earlier for girls than for boys), and by the ages of 18 years (girls) and 20 years (boy s) more than 50% had experienced at least one low back pain episode. t he pattern for the 1-year period prevalence of-low back pain was very similar to that for the lifetime prevalence; both started at 7% (95% c onfidence interval, 5-9%) for the 22-year-old individuals and reached 56% (95% confidence interval, 53-59%) and 67% (95% confidence interval , 62-71%), respectively, for the 41-year-old individuals. The pattern for the point prevalence resembled that of the more than 30 days of lo w back pain reported in the preceding year; the rate increased steadil y from 1% (95% confidence interval, 0-2%) to 17% (95% confidence inter val, 14-20%). There was a general tendency for more women to report lo w back pain than men, but this difference generally was not statistica lly significant, Conclusions. The study of the causes and prevention o f low back pain needs to be focused on childhood and adolescence.