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Chronic physical illnesses, mental health disorders, and psychological features as potential risk factors for back pain from childhood to young adulthood: A systematic review with meta-analysis
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Chronic physical illnesses, mental health disorders, and psychological features as potential risk factors for back pain from childhood to young adulthood: A systematic review with meta-analysis

A.M. Beynon, J.J. Hebert, C.J. Hodgetts, L.M. Boulos and B.F. Walker
European Spine Journal, Vol.29(3), pp.480-496
2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-019-06278-6
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Abstract

Purpose To report evidence of chronic physical illnesses, mental health disorders, and psychological features as potential risk factors for back pain in children, adolescents, and young adults. Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis included cohort and inception cohort studies that investigated potential risk factors for back pain in young people. Potential risk factors of interest were chronic physical illnesses, mental health disorders (e.g. depression, anxiety), and other psychological features (e.g. coping, resistance). Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus from inception to July 2019. Results Nineteen of 2167 screened articles were included in the qualitative synthesis, and data from 12 articles were included in the meta-analysis. Evidence from inception cohort studies demonstrated psychological distress, emotional coping problems, and somatosensory amplification to be likely risk factors for back pain. Evidence from non-inception cohort studies cannot distinguish between risk factors or back pain triggers. However, we identified several additional factors that were associated with back pain. Specifically, asthma, headaches, abdominal pain, depression, anxiety, conduct problems, somatization, and ‘feeling tense’ are potential risk factors or triggers for back pain. Results from the meta-analyses demonstrated the most likely risk factors for back pain in young people are psychological distress and emotional coping problems. Conclusion Psychological features are the most likely risk factors for back pain in young people. Several other factors were associated with back pain, but their potential as risk factors was unclear due to risk of bias. Additional high-quality research is needed to better elucidate these relationships.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

Source: InCites

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66 Record Views
39 Times Cited - Web of Science

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.129 Back pain
1.129.98 Low Back Pain
Web Of Science research areas
Clinical Neurology
Orthopedics
ESI research areas
Clinical Medicine
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