Socio-psychological stressors as risk factors for low back pain in Chinesemiddle-aged women

Aim(s) of the study. This study aims to explore the relationship between so ciopsychological stress and low, back pain (LBP) prevalence among Chinese m iddle-aged women. Background. Women in mid-life experience increasing socio-psychological str ess because of midlife transitions, stressful life events and housework or work factors. Encountering socio-psychological stress itself may result in the manifestation of LBP. Design. A case-control study of Hong Kong community-based middle-aged women was conducted. The study subjects were either from the University Family M edicine Clinic or from a previous population-based cross-sectional study of middle-aged women conducted by Department of Community and Family Medicine . Among the 928 potential eligible subjects from both sources, a total of 1 82 cases and 235 controls participated in this study. Data were collected f rom face-to-face interviews and included demographic factors, menopausal st atus, socio-psychological stress and occurrence of LBP. Socio-psychological stress covered social factors, self-reported nature of housework/work, hou sework/work stress and stressful life events. Results. Among the 182 cases who entered this study, 83 women (45.6%) had e xperienced 1- <14 days of LBP, and 99 women (54.4%) had at least 14 days of LBP in the previous 12 months. Those who reported that 'their family membe rs, relatives or friends were very sick, died, needed her to take care of t hem or who they, worried about in the past 12 months' had an increased risk of LBP of 67% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-2.55). In addition women with a bad or ordinary relationship with cohabitants had an increased risk of LBP of 70% (95% CI 1.00-3.04). Lastly, women with a high housework or wo rk stress had an increased risk of suffering both types of LBP of nearly tw o- and half-fold (95% CI 1.61-3.85). Conclusions. The results indicate that an association exists between high s ociopsychological stress and LBP prevalence. Alleviating the impact of hous ework or work related factors Would, however, involve improving both the wo rk and home environment.