Chronic low back pain in a population of women in Southern Brazil: prevalence and associated factors

ABSTRACT This study sought to identify the prevalence of chronic low back pain and its associated factors in a population of women. A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted with 1,128 women aged 20 to 69 and living in the urban area of São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Chronic low back pain was assessed by the presence of prevailing pain lasting for at least three months, and the investigated factors consisted of sociodemographic, behavioral and anthropometric aspects. The prevalence of chronic low back pain was 46.5% (95%CI: 43.6-49.4). After the adjustment, factors associated with the presence of chronic low back pain were: age, physical activity and nutritional status. We observed an association with a positive linear trend between age and low back pain. Furthermore, physically inactive and obese women presented, respectively, a 31% (PR=1.31; 95%CI: 1.05-1.64; p=0.02) and 25% (PR=1.25; 95%CI: 1.09-1.42; p<0.001) higher probability of presenting low back pain than those with normal body weight. In conclusion, we identified a high prevalence of chronic low back pain in women, and the main associated factors included: advanced age, physical inactivity and obesity.