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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2015; 05(04): 110-116
DOI: 10.4103/2231-0770.165123
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Risk factors associated with chronic low back pain in Syria

Mohammad Salem Alhalabi
Department of Neuroscience, Head of Integrated Neuroscience Center, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
,
Hassan Alhaleeb
Department of Neurology, University of Damascus, Faculty of Medicine, Damascus, Syria
,
Sarah Madani
Department of Neurology, University of Damascus, Faculty of Medicine, Damascus, Syria
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Background: We aimed to identify risk factors associated with chronic low back pain (C-LBP) in Syria. Materials and Methods: We conducted the study in a busy outpatient neurology clinic in Damascus city from October 2011 to August 2012. We enrolled all eligible adults presenting with C-LBP along with those who denied any back pain as a controls. We considered C-LBP any LBP lasting over 3 months. We developed our own questionnaire. A clinical nurse interviewed each person and filled in the results. Results: We had a total of 911 subjects; 513 patients and 398 controls. We found that C-LBP increased with age. Having a sibling with C-LBP was a strong predictor of C-LBP. In women obesity, but not overweight, was a risk factor. Number of children was a risk factor for mothers. Higher level of education decreased the chance of C-LBP in women. Sedentary job increased the risk of C-LBP. Conclusion: This study sheds some light on risk factors for C-LBP in our population and might help find possible preventive measures.

Keywords

Family history - low back pain - obesity - waist circumference - waist to hip ratio


Publication History

Article published online:
09 August 2021

© 2015. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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