Has the prevalence of neck pain and low back pain changed over the last 5 years? A population-based national study in Spain

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: No study has determined time trends of neck pain and low back pain (NP&LBP) in the 20th century in Spain. PURPOSE: To estimate current 1-year prevalence of NP&LBP using data from the 2009 European Health Survey and to analyze the time trends in the prevalence of NP&LBP from 2005 to 2010. STUDY DESIGN: Population-based national study. PATIENT SAMPLE: A total of 51,666 subjects were finally included. OUTCOME MEASURES: The 2006 Spanish National Health Survey (SNHS) and the 2009 European Health Interview Survey for Spain (EHISS). METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2006 SNHS (n=29,478) and the 2009 EHISS (n=22,188). We considered the presence of NP, LBP, and both NP&LBP. We analyzed sociodemographic features, self-perceived health status, lifestyle habits, and comorbid diseases using logistic regression models. RESULTS: In 2009, the 1-year prevalence was 5.2% (95% confidence interval 4.8-5.5) for NP, 7.9% (7.4-8.3) for LBP, and 10.6% (10.2-11.1) for NP&LBP. Women increased the probability of NP and NP&LBP but decreased the probability of LBP. The prevalence of all pain localizations increased with age. Not practicing exercise or being obese was associated with lower NP and higher NP&LBP. One-year prevalence of NP decreased from 2006 (7.57%) to 2009 (5.18%) (prevalence ratio [PR] 0.66, 0.60-0.72; men: 0.68, 0.61-0.75; women: 0.66, 0.60-0.72). The prevalence of LBP did not change (PR 0.93, 0.86-101) from 2006 (8.34%) to 2009 (7.86%). The prevalence of NP&LBP decreased from 12.53% in 2006 to 10.61% in 2009 (PR 0.81, 0.75-0.86; men: 7.73% to 6.36%, PR 0.80, 0.70-0.90; women: 17.15% to 14.69%, PR 0.81, 0.74-0.87). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of NP and NP&LBP, but not LBP, has decreased in the last years in Spain. NP&LBP were associated with similar sociodemographic and lifestyle habits in 2009 compared with 2006. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.