The Relationship Between Spinal Pain and Comorbidity: A Cross-sectional Analysis of 579 Community-Dwelling, Older Australian Women

Katie E de Luca; Lynne Parkinson; Scott Haldeman; Julie E Byles; Fiona Blyth

doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2017.06.004

The Relationship Between Spinal Pain and Comorbidity: A Cross-sectional Analysis of 579 Community-Dwelling, Older Australian Women

J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2017 Sep;40(7):459-466. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2017.06.004. Epub 2017 Oct 13.

Authors

Katie E de Luca¹, Lynne Parkinson², Scott Haldeman³, Julie E Byles⁴, Fiona Blyth⁵

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: chirokatie@live.com.au.
² Central Queensland University, School of Human Health and Social Sciences, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
³ Department of Neurology, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
⁴ Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ Concord Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

PMID: 29037787
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2017.06.004

Abstract

Objectives: The aims of this study were to (1) report the prevalence and explore the influence of spinal pain on quality of life and (2) assess the relationship between spinal pain and the type and number of comorbidities.

Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised 579 community-dwelling, older Australian women. Women had "spinal pain" if they marked "yes" to neck pain, upper back pain, mid-back pain, and/or lower back pain. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were performed to report the prevalence and explore the relationship between spinal pain and the type and number of comorbidities.

Results: A majority of women (55.8%) who returned surveys had spinal pain. Women with spinal pain had significantly lower physical and mental quality of life scores than women without spinal pain (Medical Outcomes Study: 36 Item Short Form Survey [SF-36] physical component summary: 40.1 ± 11.1 vs 49.0 ± 9.0, and SF-36 mental component summary: 50.0 ± 10.5 vs 53.9 ± 8.2, respectively). Having spinal pain was significantly associated with overweight and obesity (odds ratio 1.98 [95% confidence interval 1.3-2.96] and 2.12 [1.37-3.28]), diabetes (1.93 [1.01-3.67]), pulmonary comorbidity (1.66 [1.04-2.65]), and cardiovascular comorbidity (1.57 [1.07-2.28]). More than half of the women with spinal pain reported 2 or more comorbidities, with comorbidities significantly more common among women with spinal pain than among women without spinal pain. The odds of having spinal pain increased with an increasing number of comorbidities (2 comorbidities: 2.44 [1.47-4.04], 3 comorbidities: 3.07 [1.66-5.67], 4 comorbidities: 5.05 [1.64-15.54]).

Conclusions: Spinal pain is common in community-dwelling, older Australian women and is associated with greater disability and poorer quality of life. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and obesity appear to have a relationship with spinal pain. There was an incremental increase in the risk of spinal pain associated with increasing comorbidity count.

Keywords: Comorbidity; Epidemiology; Pain; Women’s Health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Analysis of Variance
Australia
Back Pain / epidemiology
Back Pain / physiopathology
Comorbidity*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disability Evaluation*
Female
Geriatric Assessment*
Humans
Independent Living
Longitudinal Studies
Low Back Pain / epidemiology
Low Back Pain / physiopathology
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Neck Pain / epidemiology
Neck Pain / physiopathology
Psychometrics
Quality of Life*
Risk Assessment
Socioeconomic Factors
Spinal Diseases / diagnosis*
Spinal Diseases / epidemiology
Spinal Diseases / psychology