Articles: low-back-pain.
-
A criteria-based review of the literature. ⋯ The disparity in low back pain rates within categories of countries, high-income and low-income, calls attention to the high proportion of studies on the epidemiology of low back pain that are methodologically questionable. Recommendations are offered to improve the methodologic quality of this type of study. Conclusions may be drawn from comparisons between studies, although, in the absence of set methodologic standards, they are tentative. The considerably lower rates among populations of low-income farmers compared with rates of the affluent populations of selected northern European countries indicate that, contrary to the hypothesis proposed here, hard physical labor itself is not necessarily related to low back pain. The higher rates in urban low-income populations as compared with rates in rural low-income populations and the sharply higher rates among workers in enclosed workshops of low-income countries suggest a disturbing trend: low back pain prevalence may be on the rise among vast numbers of workers as urbanization and rapid industrialization proceed.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Rapid MR imaging versus plain radiography in patients with low back pain: initial results of a randomized study.
To demonstrate the feasibility of a randomized trial to compare rapid magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with plain radiography as the initial imaging study in patients with low back pain, to test measures of the decision-making process and patient outcomes, and to offer a model for using randomized clinical trials to evaluate diagnostic tests. ⋯ Randomly selecting patients to undergo imaging examinations and measuring outcomes is feasible; however, a larger, multicenter study is necessary to determine whether rapid MR imaging is a cost-effective replacement for plain radiography in patients with low back pain.
-
A 25-year follow-up study of 606 members of the population-based Framingham cohort, who had received lateral lumbar radiographs in 1967-1968 and 1992-1993, and completed an interview on back symptoms at the second examination. ⋯ Advanced aortic atherosclerosis, presenting as calcific deposits in the posterior wall of the aorta, increases a person's risk for development of disc degeneration and is associated with the occurrence of back pain.