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
. 2023 Jan 11;18(1):29.
doi: 10.1186/s13018-023-03509-x.

Prevalence of chronic low back pain and its associated factors in the general population of South Korea: a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Hyun-Jin Park #  1 , Jun-Young Choi #  2 , Woo Myung Lee  1 , Sang-Min Park  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of chronic low back pain and its associated factors in the general population of South Korea: a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Hyun-Jin Park et al. J Orthop Surg Res. .

Abstract

Background: Many factors associated with chronic low back pain (CLBP) have been proposed, including individual, psychosocial, and physical factors. However, these associated factors are still controversial.

Purpose: (1) To determine the prevalence of CLBP and (2) to analyze factors associated with CLBP in the general population using a nationally representative sample of South Koreans.

Study design: Cross-sectional study.

Patient sample: Data from versions IV-1, -2, and -3 of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), which were performed in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively (n = 24,871).

Outcome measures: Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between several factors (age, gender, alcohol consumption, household income, education level, mid-intensity physical activity, depressive symptoms, vitamin D level, and comorbidities [stroke, ischemic heart disease, knee osteoarthritis, asthma, COPD, cancer history]) and CLBP.

Methods: CLBP status was surveyed using a self-reported questionnaire. Demographic, socioeconomic status, comorbidities, and other factors were evaluated from health questionnaires, health and physical examinations, and laboratory tests. To analyze the association between these factors and CLBP, we used multiple logistic regression analysis.

Results: Data from 17,038 participants were included in the final analysis, including 2,693 with CLBP and 14,345 without. The prevalence of CLBP was 15.8% in South Korean subjects, with a prevalence of 11.8% in men and 24.5% in women. After regression analysis, we found advanced age, female gender, mid-intensity physical activity, depressive symptoms, stroke, ischemic heart disease, knee arthritis, asthma, COPD, and cancer history were positively associated with CLBP. In contrast, alcohol consumption ≥ 1 drink per month, increased household income, higher education level, and vitamin D insufficiency were negatively associated with CLBP.

Conclusions: Our study showed that CLBP was most common in the elderly and women in the general South Korean population. Several individual, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health-related factors were associated with CLBP. These results demonstrate the influence of these factors on CLBP in the general population and suggest that consideration of these factors may improve the management of CLBP.

Keywords: Chronic low back pain; General population; KNHANES; Risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the inclusion and exclusion of participants from the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES IV-1, IV-2, and IV-3, respectively). LBP, low back pain
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of low back pain according to A gender, and B age group
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Balague F, Mannion AF, Pellise F, Cedraschi C. Non-specific low back pain. Lancet. 2012;379(9814):482–491. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60610-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hong JY, Song KS, Cho JH, Lee JH, Kim NH. An updated overview of low back pain management. Asian Spine J. 2021;16(6):968–982. doi: 10.31616/asj.2021.0371. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Patel MS, Lee KC, Dhake RP, Longworth S, Sell P. Ability of spine specialists to identify psychosocial risk factors as obstacles to recovery in patients with low back pain-related disorders. Asian Spine J. 2021;15(2):224–233. doi: 10.31616/asj.2019.0377. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ogon I, Iba K, Takashima H, Yoshimoto M, Morita T, Oshigiri T, Terashima Y, Emori M, Teramoto A, Takebayashi T, Yamashita T. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic analysis of multifidus muscle lipid contents and association with nociceptive pain in chronic low back pain. Asian Spine J. 2021;15(4):441–446. doi: 10.31616/asj.2020.0247. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Frank JW, Brooker AS, DeMaio SE, Kerr MS, Maetzel A, Shannon HS, Sullivan TJ, Norman RW, Wells RP. Disability resulting from occupational low back pain. Part II: What do we know about secondary prevention? A review of the scientific evidence on prevention after disability begins. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1996;21(24):2918–2929. doi: 10.1097/00007632-199612150-00025. - DOI - PubMed