Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct;41(5):786-792.
doi: 10.5535/arm.2017.41.5.786. Epub 2017 Oct 31.

Association Between Walking and Low Back Pain in the Korean Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Heesang Kim  1 , Tae Jun Min  1 , Si Hyun Kang  1 , Don-Kyu Kim  1 , Kyung Mook Seo  1 , Sang Yoon Lee  2
Affiliations

Association Between Walking and Low Back Pain in the Korean Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Heesang Kim et al. Ann Rehabil Med. 2017 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate if walking is independently associated with low back pain (LBP) in the general population.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used public data from the Fourth and Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects included 5,982 community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years. Presence of current LBP was defined as LBP for 1 month or more in the past 3 months. Walking was measured as total walking duration for the past week and subjects were divided into four quartiles. Independent effect of walking on LBP was determined using odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age, sex, osteoporosis, depression or anxiety, and radiographic lumbar spondylosis.

Results: Prevalence of LBP was 26.4% in this population. Older people and women had higher prevalence of current LBP. Prevalence of obesity and osteoporosis was higher in subjects with current LBP and quality of life was poorer in subjects with current LBP. Adjusted logistic regression model revealed that older age (OR, 1.655; p=0.018), female sex (OR, 2.578; p<0.001), radiographic lumbar spondylosis (OR, 2.728; p<0.001), depression or anxiety (OR, 5.409; p<0.001), and presence of osteoporosis (OR, 1.467; p=0.002) were positively associated with current LBP. Walking decreased prevalence of current LBP proportionally (2nd quartile OR, 0.795; 3rd quartile OR, 0.770; and 4th quartile OR, 0.686 compared with the 1st quartile of walking).

Conclusion: Walking was negatively associated with LBP. Further studies are needed to reveal causal relationship of this phenomenon.

Keywords: Cross-sectional studies; Exercise; Low back pain; Spondylosis; Walking.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article is reported.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Holth HS, Werpen HK, Zwart JA, Hagen K. Physical inactivity is associated with chronic musculoskeletal complaints 11 years later: results from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2008;9:159. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hildebrandt VH, Bongers PM, Dul J, van Dijk FJ, Kemper HC. The relationship between leisure time, physical activities and musculoskeletal symptoms and disability in worker populations. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2000;73:507–518. - PubMed
    1. Sluka KA, O'Donnell JM, Danielson J, Rasmussen LA. Regular physical activity prevents development of chronic pain and activation of central neurons. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2013;114:725–733. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bo Andersen L, Wedderkopp N, Leboeuf-Yde C. Association between back pain and physical fitness in adolescents. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2006;31:1740–1744. - PubMed
    1. Morken T, Mageroy N, Moen BE. Physical activity is associated with a low prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the Royal Norwegian Navy: a cross sectional study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2007;8:56. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources