One-year prevalence of low back pain in two Swiss regions - Estimates fromthe population participating in the 1992-1993 MONICA project

Study Design. A cross-sectional survey was performed. Objective. To estimate the extent of low back pain as a public health probl em. Summary of Background Data. Health surveys converge on very high estimates of tow back pain in general populations, but few studies have included seve rity criteria in their definition and conclusions. Because it is unlikely t hat interventions will influence the prevalence of minimal and infrequent s ymptoms, greater attention should be paid to characteristics of low back pa in that indicate some impact on the life of survey respondents. Methods. Two regions participated in the MONICA (MONitoring of trends and d eterminants in CArdiovascular disease) project in Switzerland. Participants randomly selected from the general population completed a standard self-ad ministered questionnaire on cardiovascular risk factors. A special section on low back pain was added in the third (1992-1993) MONICA survey and compl eted by 3227 participants. Results. A regional difference found in the 12-month prevalence rate disapp eared with the inclusion of severity criteria. Low back pain over more than seven cumulated days was reported among men by 20.2% (age range, 25-34 yea rs) to 28.5% (age range, 65-74 years), respectively, among women by 31.1% t o 38.5%. Similar rates of reduction in activity (professional, housekeeping , and leisure time) and medical consultation (conventional and nonconventio nal) motivated by low back pain characterized the two participating regions . The cumulative duration of pain was related to ail the indicators showing the impact of low back pain on everyday life. Conclusions. Determining the cumulative duration of low back pain over the preceding year is a straightforward task, and a cutoff at 1 week seems appr opriate for distinguishing between low- and high-impact low back pain.