Prevalence and associated factors for persistent low back pain in the postpartum period

Abstract

Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is common during pregnancy and tends to increase in the third trimester. This pregnancy-related condition may even persist through the postpartum period, and become a lifelong problem.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of persistent LBP in the postpartum and to identify factors associated with this condition.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed a survey of women under the age of 40 for back pain symptoms during the postpartum period. Questions included sociodemographic data, data related to low back pain during pregnancy and the postpartum period as well as characteristics of the delivery. We identified factors associated with persistent LBP in postpartum. The level of significance was fixed at 0.05.

Results: We interviewed 100 women during their postpartum period. A history of LBP before and during pregnancy was found in 44.6% and 75% of cases respectively. In addition to pregnancy-related LBP, 53% experienced persistent postpartum LBP. A history of previous back pain episodes when not pregnant (p<0,001), as well as during previous pregnancies (p<0,001) were associated with persistent LBP. In contrast, no association was found between LBP in the postpartum and the number of children (p=0.681), body mass index (p=0.37), and physical activity (p=0.726). In multivariate analysis, we did not identify any associated factors for persistent LBP.

Conclusions: Our study showed that the prevalence of persistent LBP in the postpartum is high. The main factors associated with this condition were previous episodes of back pain while non-pregnant or pregnant. Identification of these risk factors may help in the determination of appropriate prevention strategies and treatment options.