PREVALENCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-BACK PAIN AS COMPARED TO NECK AND LOW-BACK PAIN IN A GENERAL POPULATION OF MEN

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Epidemiologic studies of low-back and neck pain are abundant, but research on mid-back pain is scant. No studies reporting the characteristics of mid-back pain in the general population were found. This study reports the one-year prevalence, severity, frequency and associated disability of mid-back pain, and compares these findings to those of neck and low-back pain.

Methods and Results: Male twins aged 35–70 years (n=600), from a general population sample, were interviewed with standardized questions. Stata’s survey methods were used to adjust for any correlation between the twins. The one-year prevalence of mid-back pain was 17.0% (95% CI 14.3–19.7) compared to 64.0% (95% CI 60.6–67.5) for neck and 66.8% (95% CI 63.4–70.3) for low-back pain. Among those reporting spinal pain, 55.1% with neck pain experienced frequent symptoms (daily to monthly), as compared to 33.3% with mid-back and 39.9% with low-back pain. The mean severity of the worst pain episode was highest for low-back pain, followed by neck and mid-back pain. Associated disability tended to be less common from mid-back pain (23.5%) than low-back (41.1%), with neck pain intermediate (30.3%). Mid-back pain was associated with higher likelihood of low-back and neck pain. Odds ratios for reporting neck and low-back pain were 2.32 (95% CI 1.53–3.51) and 2.86 (95% CI 1.80–4.54) higher, respectively, when mid-back pain was reported than when not.

Conclusion: The one-year prevalence of mid-back pain is approximately one-quarter that of neck or low-back pain, with associated disability tending to be less common. Other spinal co-morbidity is nearly always reported in cases of mid-back pain.