American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on March 11, 2008
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(9):1110-1119; doi:10.1093/aje/kwn007
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
The Association between Obesity and the Prevalence of Low Back Pain in Young Adults
The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study
1 Musculoskeletal Disorders Team, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
2 Biological Mechanisms and Prevention of Work-Related Diseases Team, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
3 Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
4 Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
5 Department of Pharmacology, Drug Development and Therapeutics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
6 Tykslab, Clinical Pharmacology, Hospital District of Southwest Finland, Turku, Finland
7 Department of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
8 Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Correspondence to Dr. Rahman Shiri, Musculoskeletal Disorders Team, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, 00250 Helsinki, Finland (e-mail: rahman.shiri{at}ttl.fi).
Received for publication July 9, 2007. Accepted for publication January 7, 2008.
Both low back pain (LBP) and obesity are common public health problems, yet their relation remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between weight-related factors and the prevalence of LBP in young adults in Finland. Participants in the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study aged 24–39 years were included (N = 2,575). In 2001, 31.2% of men and 39.5% of women reported LBP with recovery within a month or recurrent or continuous pain during the preceding 12 months. For women only, those with higher body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, serum leptin level, and C-reactive protein level showed an increased prevalence of LBP. With all weight-related factors in the model, only waist circumference was related to LBP in women. For women, the odds ratios of LBP were 1.2 (95% confidence interval: 0.8, 1.8) for a waist circumference of 80–87.9 cm and 1.8 (95% confidence interval: 1.0, 3.2) for a waist circumference of 
88 cm compared with a waist circumference of <80 cm. This association was independent of C-reactive protein, leptin, and adiponectin levels. The authors' findings in a relatively young population suggest that abdominal obesity may increase the risk of LBP in women.
adiponectin; C-reactive protein; leptin, overweight
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; LBP, low back pain