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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : March 25, 2014 7:19 PM IST
Lower back pain has emerged as the biggest cause of global disability in a study based on data of ill health and disability arising from all health conditions in 187 countries. The prevalence and the overall impact of the condition increases with age, the study said. 'With ageing populations throughout the world, but especially in low and middle income countries, the number of people living with lower back pain will increase substantially over coming decades,' the authors cautioned.
The authors base their findings on data for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. They looked at the prevalence, incidence, remission, duration, and risk of death associated with lower back pain in 117 published studies covering 47 countries and 16 of the 21 Global Disease world regions. The researchers also surveys in five countries about the impact of acute and severe chronic lower back pain with and without leg pain; and data from national health surveys in many countries. (Read: Treatment and surgeries for back pain)
The authors then assessed the toll taken by low back pain in terms of disability adjusted life years (DALYs). These are worked out, by combining the number of years of life lost as a result of early death, and the number of years lived with disability. Out of all 291 conditions studied in the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study, lower back pain came top of the league table in terms of years lost to disability, and sixth in terms of disability adjusted life years. It was ranked as the greatest contributor to disability in 12 of the 21 world regions, and the greatest contributor to overall burden in Western Europe and Australasia. (Read: 10 tips to prevent back pain)
The study appeared in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Lower back pain what exactly it is?
Ever experienced that nagging pain in your lower back after a long day at the office, or a hard day at home? If yes, what do most us do to reduce the pain? Maybe use a hot water bag, some balm or pop some painkillers at best. What if we told you your backache could mean more? Dr Smarajit Chakraborty, renowned orthopedic surgeon on our panel tells us more about the various causes of lower back pain..
Almost everyone has backache at some time or the other and some have it more or less continually. However, only small proportions of sufferers complain about it and visit a doctor. Even when a doctor is finally consulted, the cause for the backache is very difficult to diagnose because the severity is difficult to gauge. The patients' description of the pain, facial expressions and the extent to which their day-to-day activities are affected can help assess the severity to a certain extent. Pain in the back may be caused due to a disorder in functioning of any structure in the back - the vertebrae, Intervertebral discs, the ligaments or muscles of the back. It can also occur with a variety of ailments like kidney stones,disc prolapse, heart failure or osteoarthritis. A lot of times, the cause may also be psychosomatic in nature. (Read: Lower back pain: Why you shouldn't ignore it)
With inputs from IANS
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