Alcohol and low-back pain: A systematic literature review

Background: The role of lifestyle factors is an important issue in the prev ention and treatment of disease. Although certain lifestyle factors in rela tion to low-back pain have evoked much interest, interest has not focused o n alcohol consumption. An appraisal of the epidemiologic literature seems w arranted. Objectives: To establish if there is evidence in the literature for a causa l link between alcohol consumption and low-back pain. Data Sources: Nine original research reports published between 1987 and 199 5 were obtained through a MEDLINE search for the years 1992 to 1998, with v arious combinations of the terms "alcohol," "substance abuse," "life-style, " "risk factor," "epidemiology" and "low back pain." An additional manual s earch was made of relevant bibliographies without limitation for year of pu blication. Data Synthesis: A systematic review was made of the epidemiologic literatur e to uncover any evidence for a causal relation between alcohol consumption and low-back pain. Results: None of the studies reported a positive link between alcohol consu mption and low-back pain, and no positive gradient was found in studies tha t included an analysis of the dose-response. None of the studies was prospe ctive in design. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption does not seem to be associated with low-ba ck pain, but well-designed specific alcohol/low-back pain-centered studies are lacking.