Table 2.
Characteristics of the study sample by presence of back pain
| COURAGE survey | SAGE survey | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | Poland | Spain | China | Ghana | India | Mexico | Russia | S. Africa | ||||||||||
| Back pain | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| BMI (kg/m2) | ||||||||||||||||||
| <18.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 15.1 | 15.3 | 37.7 | 40.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
| 18.5-24.9 | 33.9 | 26.8 | 28.2 | 20.8 | 23.7 | 20.7 | 60.0 | 62.3 | 54.8 | 55.6 | 48.8 | 47.0 | 21.4 | 20.4 | 28.8 | 19.3 | 24.6 | 21.4 |
| 25.0-29.9 | 42.5 | 39.2 | 39.4 | 39.6 | 45.3 | 44.8 | 29.8 | 27.7 | 20.3 | 18.9 | 10.9 | 10.0 | 50.4 | 48.1 | 43.1 | 38.7 | 28.4 | 23.3 |
| 30.0-34.9 | 18.0 | 20.8 | 23.9 | 27.0 | 24.0 | 23.4 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 7.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 19.7 | 23.8 | 16.1 | 28.6 | 22.1 | 23.8 |
| ≥35.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 7.1 | 11.7 | 6.4 | 10.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 10.7 | 12.5 | 21.9 | 28.1 |
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 50-59 | 34.5 | 31.3 | 43.5 | 34.4 | 34.8 | 29.0 | 46.4 | 41.2 | 42.0 | 36.6 | 51.3 | 44.4 | 52.3 | 43.3 | 53.7 | 37.8 | 52.9 | 44.7 |
| 60-69 | 35.8 | 35.2 | 31.4 | 34.1 | 28.9 | 27.4 | 31.1 | 34.6 | 27.5 | 27.6 | 30.2 | 32.0 | 23.2 | 30.4 | 23.6 | 25.4 | 29.3 | 33.4 |
| 70-79 | 19.3 | 21.6 | 17.7 | 21.6 | 27.2 | 32.0 | 18.3 | 19.7 | 21.1 | 25.8 | 14.1 | 18.8 | 17.5 | 18.5 | 15.8 | 26.9 | 13.3 | 14.8 |
| ≥80 | 10.5 | 11.9 | 7.4 | 9.9 | 9.2 | 11.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 9.9 | 4.5 | 7.1 |
| Female | 49.7 | 60.4 | 52.5 | 59.5 | 43.4 | 66.1 | 48.1 | 58.3 | 45.0 | 51.7 | 41.9 | 60.0 | 49.9 | 59.7 | 58.9 | 62.7 | 52.7 | 61.4 |
| Education | ||||||||||||||||||
| ≥Tertiary | 27.5 | 23.4 | 19.0 | 13.3 | 13.4 | 7.6 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 9.0 | 6.5 | 22.8 | 14.4 | 7.1 | 3.7 |
| Secondary | 56.1 | 57.9 | 60.4 | 58.4 | 28.7 | 21.9 | 34.4 | 26.1 | 22.8 | 18.7 | 21.9 | 14.0 | 9.9 | 16.6 | 72.1 | 76.1 | 24.5 | 20.0 |
| ≤Primary | 16.4 | 18.7 | 20.6 | 28.3 | 57.9 | 70.5 | 60.5 | 71.6 | 73.1 | 78.4 | 71.1 | 83.8 | 81.1 | 76.9 | 5.1 | 9.5 | 68.3 | 76.3 |
| Wealth | ||||||||||||||||||
| Poorest | 22.2 | 24.5 | 20.9 | 27.8 | 22.0 | 22.7 | 14.8 | 22.2 | 20.2 | 15.5 | 16.1 | 21.4 | 11.6 | 21.7 | 16.3 | 16.0 | 20.7 | 19.3 |
| Poorer | 25.6 | 29.8 | 21.4 | 18.6 | 21.4 | 26.8 | 17.3 | 21.4 | 18.5 | 20.0 | 19.7 | 19.2 | 21.4 | 14.9 | 21.4 | 19.3 | 21.4 | 21.2 |
| Middle | 18.6 | 20.8 | 17.6 | 18.9 | 19.2 | 21.5 | 19.9 | 21.6 | 17.8 | 24.5 | 18.3 | 19.6 | 18.0 | 13.9 | 17.6 | 20.5 | 18.7 | 18.5 |
| Richer | 18.3 | 14.8 | 26.8 | 19.2 | 19.9 | 17.6 | 24.3 | 19.4 | 20.6 | 20.6 | 18.6 | 21.3 | 17.4 | 15.5 | 22.9 | 18.8 | 19.3 | 21.0 |
| Richest | 15.3 | 10.1 | 19.6 | 15.5 | 17.6 | 11.5 | 23.7 | 15.4 | 22.9 | 19.3 | 27.4 | 18.5 | 22.5 | 34.1 | 23.3 | 25.4 | 22.1 | 20.0 |
| Depression | 10.5 | 23.4 | 5.9 | 19.2 | 18.0 | 36.6 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 15.6 | 11.9 | 22.3 | 14.1 | 21.9 | 2.3 | 8.5 | 2.7 | 8.0 |
| Physical activity | ||||||||||||||||||
| High | 43.2 | 39.6 | 47.4 | 49.5 | 32.3 | 28.5 | 43.7 | 47.0 | 59.9 | 64.6 | 52.8 | 51.4 | 40.5 | 39.1 | 57.0 | 58.3 | 30.0 | 25.7 |
| Moderate | 33.5 | 28.6 | 19.3 | 19.9 | 41.5 | 33.3 | 27.7 | 26.9 | 13.5 | 11.1 | 23.9 | 21.0 | 22.1 | 23.0 | 15.0 | 16.5 | 11.8 | 13.2 |
| Low | 23.3 | 31.8 | 33.3 | 30.6 | 26.2 | 38.2 | 28.6 | 26.0 | 26.7 | 24.3 | 23.3 | 27.6 | 37.4 | 37.9 | 28.0 | 25.2 | 58.2 | 61.1 |
| Smoking status | ||||||||||||||||||
| Never | 35.4 | 35.5 | 45.7 | 43.8 | 47.9 | 60.0 | 63.6 | 65.6 | 75.2 | 75.1 | 44.5 | 46.5 | 63.1 | 56.2 | 71.8 | 67.7 | 66.6 | 67.1 |
| Current | 17.0 | 17.6 | 27.2 | 25.2 | 22.0 | 17.2 | 29.8 | 27.8 | 10.9 | 10.4 | 51.1 | 48.4 | 18.4 | 23.7 | 21.0 | 21.7 | 22.9 | 25.3 |
| Quit | 47.6 | 46.9 | 27.1 | 30.9 | 30.2 | 22.9 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 13.9 | 14.5 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 18.5 | 20.1 | 7.2 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 7.6 |
| Alcohol consumption | ||||||||||||||||||
| Never | 8.8 | 11.5 | 15.4 | 14.7 | 27.6 | 35.6 | 67.5 | 67.3 | 42.1 | 45.2 | 84.5 | 86.1 | 48.9 | 48.9 | 32.9 | 25.7 | 76.8 | 76.1 |
| Non-heavy | 77.4 | 74.8 | 79.1 | 77.9 | 69.5 | 62.7 | 25.4 | 26.0 | 55.4 | 53.1 | 14.9 | 13.3 | 46.4 | 46.1 | 62.5 | 68.6 | 20.2 | 19.2 |
| Heavy | 13.8 | 13.7 | 5.5 | 7.4 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 7.1 | 6.6 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 4.7 |
Abbreviations: COURAGE Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe, SAGE WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health, S. Africa South Africa, BMI Body Mass Index.
Data are %. Prevalence based on weighted sample.