Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The non-silent epidemic: low back pain as a primary cause of hospitalisation

  • Short Communication - Public Health
  • Published:
Rheumatology International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is the most common cause of pain in adults and the second health condition that prompts patients to seek ambulatory medical care visits. To analyse the impact of LBP on hospitalisations in healthcare facilities within the official subsector in Argentina between 2006 and 2010. Discharges in which the original diagnosis had been either adult LBP or lumbosciatica were assessed. The data comprised age, gender, province of residence, average length of stay (LOS) in the hospital, intra-hospital death, and the Provincial Human Development Index (PHDI). 17,859 discharges had an original diagnosis of LBP and 10,948 of lumbosciatica, which jointly accounted for 18.7 % of all the discharges documented for Diseases of Osteomuscular System and Connective Tissue (DOMS). Hospital discharges of female patients represented 53.7 %. The average age upon admission was 47.7 years in men versus 47.9 in women. The average LOS was slightly higher in men (4.2 vs. 3.8 days, p 0.01). In provinces with a PHDI below the national average, a surgical procedure was performed in 3.1 % of the discharges versus 4.1 % in the provinces with a PHDI above the national average (p < 0.001). LBP was the most frequent cause of hospitalisation due to DOMS. It occurred with a slightly higher frequency in women and prompted short hospitalisations. A surgical procedure was carried out during hospitalisation in very few cases, but the percentage of surgeries during hospitalisation was higher in provinces with a PHDI above the national average.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  1. Datta D, Mirza S, White A, Dolor lumbar (2006) En Kelley Tratado de Reumatología, Versión en Español de la 7ma Edición en inglés. Elsevier, Madrid pp 597–609

  2. Deyo RA, Mirza SK, Martin BI (2006) Back pain prevalence and visit rates: estimates from US national surveys, 2002. Spine 31:2724–2727

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cassidy JD, Carroll LJ, Cote P (1998) The Saskatchewan health and back pain survey. The prevalence of low back pain and related disability in Saskatchewan adults. Spine 23(17):1860–1866

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Steenstra IA, Verbeek JH, Heymans MW et al (2005) Prognostic factors for duration of sick leave in patients sick listed with acute low back pain: a systematic review of the literature. Occup Environ Med 62:851–860

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Kent PM, Keating JL (2005) The epidemiology of low back pain in primary care. Chiropr Osteopat 13:13

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Thelin A, Holmberg S, Thelin N (2008) Functioning in neck and low back pain from a 12-year perspective: a prospective population-based study. J Rehabil Med 40:555–561

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Chou R, Qaseem A, Snow V et al (2007) Diagnosis and treatment of low back pain: a joint clinical practice guideline from the Am College of Physicians and the Am Pain Society. Ann Intern Med 147:478

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Taylor VM, Deyo RA, Cherkin DC et al (1994) Low back pain hospitalization. Recent United States trends and regional variations. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 19(11):1207–1212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hoy D, March L, Brooks P et al (2014) The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Ann Rheum Dis 73(6):968–974

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Aportes para el desarrollo humano en la Argentina (2009) Publicado por el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Buenos Aires

  11. Kanis J (1989) Osteoporosis—the silent epidemic. Health Visit 62(1):14–15

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kretzer IF, Livramento AD, Cunha JD et al (2014) Hepatitis C worldwide and in Brazil: silent epidemic-data on disease including incidence, transmission, prevention, and treatment. Sci World J. doi:10.1155/2014/827849

    Google Scholar 

  13. Stenhouse E (2013) Gestational diabetes: the silent epidemic. J Fam Health Care 23(6):15–18

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Schneider MC, Jancloes M, Buss DF et al (2013) Leptospirosis: a silent epidemic disease. Int J Environ Res Public Health 10(12):7229–7234

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Fransen M, Woodward M, Norton R et al (2002) Risk factors associated with the transition from acute to chronic occupational back pain. Spine 27(1):92–98

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Gatchel RJ, Polatin PB, Mayer TG (1995) The dominant role of psychological risk factors in the development of chronic low back pain. Spine 20:2702–2709

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Butterfield P, Spencer P, Redmond N et al (1998) Low back pain: predictors of absenteeism, residual symptoms, functional impairment, and medical costs in Oregon workers’ compensation recipients. Am J Ind Med 34:559–567

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Garcia J, Hernandez-Castro J, Nunez R et al (2014) Prevalence of low back pain in Latin America: a systematic literature review. Pain Physician 17:379–391

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servicio de Reumatologia, Hospital J. M. Ramos Mejia, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Manuela Laffont, Gabriel Sequeira & Eduardo Mario Kerzberg

  2. Dirección de Estadísticas e Información de Salud, Ministerio de Salud de la República Argentina, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Elida Marconi, Carlos Guevel & Maria de las Mercedes Fernández

Authors
  1. Manuela Laffont
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gabriel Sequeira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eduardo Mario Kerzberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Elida Marconi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Carlos Guevel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Maria de las Mercedes Fernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriel Sequeira.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest’.

Additional information

The present work was presented as a poster in the 18th Pan-American League of Associations for Rheumatology Congress, that took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, between 15 and 20 March, 2014. It has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Laffont, M., Sequeira, G., Kerzberg, E.M. et al. The non-silent epidemic: low back pain as a primary cause of hospitalisation. Rheumatol Int 36, 673–677 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3421-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3421-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation