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. 2015 Feb 11;15:123. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1362-9

Table 3.

Association between body mass index or other factors, and back pain among adults aged 50 years or over estimated by multivariable logistic regression

COURAGE survey SAGE survey
Characteristic Reference Finland Poland Spain China Ghana India Mexico Russia S. Africa
BMI (kg/m2) 18.5-24.9 25.0-29.9 1.19 1.40* 1.23 0.96 0.90 1.01 1.54 1.51* 1.08
(0.85-1.67) (1.07-1.83) (0.95-1.59) (0.85-1.08) (0.72-1.13) (0.76-1.34) (0.86-2.75) (1.05-2.16) (0.81-1.44)
30.0-34.9 1.39 1.47* 1.13 1.08 1.23 0.96 1.41 2.76*** 1.51*
(0.93-2.06) (1.10-1.96) (0.85-1.51) (0.87-1.34) (0.92-1.64) (0.61-1.51) (0.71-2.78) (1.83-4.17) (1.04-2.20)
≥35.0 3.33*** 2.03*** 1.56* 1.00 0.90 1.21 1.17 2.20* 1.48*
(2.09-5.30) (1.34-3.09) (1.03-2.35) (0.65-1.55) (0.59-1.36) (0.56-2.62) (0.54-2.57) (1.15-4.21) (1.02-2.16)
Age (years) 50-59 60-69 0.97 1.40** 1.15 1.17** 1.14 1.20 1.21 1.81** 1.35*
(0.69-1.36) (1.10-1.78) (0.88-1.51) (1.05-1.31) (0.95-1.36) (0.95-1.52) (0.73-2.00) (1.23-2.67) (1.04-1.75)
70-79 1.24 1.66** 1.13 1.06 1.29* 1.41* 1.25 3.11*** 1.57*
(0.79-1.94) (1.14-2.40) (0.87-1.46) (0.92-1.22) (1.01-1.66) (1.01-1.96) (0.74-2.11) (1.99-4.86) (1.10-2.24)
≥80 1.16 1.75** 1.18 0.95 1.05 1.43 1.30 3.53*** 1.56
(0.68-2.00) (1.20-2.55) (0.81-1.70) (0.67-1.34) (0.75-1.47) (0.91-2.25) (0.62-2.74) (1.88-6.64) (0.89-2.74)
Sex Male Female 1.53** 1.45** 2.54*** 1.84*** 1.32** 2.00*** 2.80*** 1.40 1.37*
(1.17-1.99) (1.14-1.84) (2.05-3.15) (1.58-2.15) (1.10-1.59) (1.56-2.58) (1.59-4.91) (0.93-2.10) (1.02-1.86)
Education ≥Tertiary Secondary 1.03 1.35 0.98 1.40 0.97 1.29 1.67 1.47* 1.52
(0.78-1.34) (0.98-1.85) (0.68-1.40) (0.96-2.04) (0.58-1.63) (0.80-2.08) (0.59-4.71) (1.04-2.08) (0.79-2.90)
≤Primary 0.96 1.50* 1.32 1.72* 1.09 1.79* 1.31 1.67 2.01*
(0.66-1.38) (1.02-2.20) (0.89-1.98) (1.10-2.68) (0.66-1.82) (1.14-2.83) (0.51-3.34) (0.97-2.85) (1.04-3.90)
Wealth Middle Poorest 0.75 1.06 0.83 1.23 0.55*** 1.01 2.26* 0.83 0.97
(0.49-1.14) (0.76-1.49) (0.61-1.12) (0.97-1.57) (0.41-0.74) (0.70-1.47) (1.17-4.35) (0.52-1.33) (0.66-1.42)
Poorer 0.98 1.11 0.92 1.07 0.71* 0.79 0.59 0.79 1.20
(0.66-1.44) (0.76-1.62) (0.72-1.18) (0.86-1.33) (0.54-0.94) (0.55-1.13) (0.30-1.13) (0.42-1.48) (0.78-1.85)
Richer 0.79 0.73 0.88 0.76* 0.76* 1.18 0.93 0.82 0.93
(0.54-1.15) (0.52-1.03) (0.61-1.26) (0.58-1.00) (0.58-0.99) (0.80-1.76) (0.49-1.75) (0.43-1.56) (0.64-1.37)
Richest 0.65 0.85 0.77 0.68** 0.64*** 0.74 1.73 1.01 1.03
(0.40-1.05) (0.60-1.22) (0.57-1.04) (0.52-0.89) (0.50-0.83) (0.53-1.03) (0.82-3.68) (0.58-1.75) (0.64-1.66)
Depression No Yes 2.51* 5.23*** 2.51*** 3.08*** 6.74*** 2.40*** 2.09* 7.66*** 3.89***
(1.26-5.02) (3.05-8.98) (1.75-3.58) (2.07-4.57) (4.33-10.47) (1.82-3.16) (1.07-4.10) (2.47-23.73) (1.84-8.22)
Physical activity High Moderate 0.81 0.96 0.85 0.99 0.78 0.80 0.90 1.06 1.69*
(0.61-1.07) (0.72-1.28) (0.67-1.07) (0.85-1.16) (0.57-1.06) (0.64-1.00) (0.50-1.64) (0.72-1.55) (1.10-2.61)
Low 1.21 0.82 1.33* 0.89 0.83 1.05 0.74 0.72 1.33
(0.86-1.69) (0.62-1.09) (1.02-1.73) (0.73-1.09) (0.64-1.07) (0.79-1.39) (0.44-1.25) (0.48-1.07) (0.94-1.88)
Smoking status Never Smoker 1.46 1.12 1.11 1.28** 0.94 1.18 1.93 1.30 1.14
(0.97-2.21) (0.83-1.50) (0.86-1.43) (1.08-1.52) (0.70-1.27) (0.93-1.50) (0.98-3.82) (0.73-2.33) (0.80-1.64)
Quit 1.34* 1.30 1.19 1.32* 1.25 1.33 1.58 1.79 0.84
(1.01-1.77) (0.98-1.72) (0.85-1.65) (1.02-1.71) (0.95-1.64) (0.76-2.35) (0.82-3.05) (0.95-3.36) (0.52-1.34)
Alcohol Never Non-heavy 0.76 1.16 1.05 1.21* 0.90 1.25 1.39 1.85** 1.17
consumption (0.47-1.22) (0.86-1.57) (0.74-1.47) (1.00-1.45) (0.75-1.09) (0.92-1.69) (0.81-2.39) (1.23-2.77) (0.85-1.62)
Heavy 0.85 1.90* 0.99 1.10 0.58 0.85 1.38 3.08** 1.69
(0.46-1.58) (1.09-3.30) (0.40-2.47) (0.83-1.45) (0.32-1.03) (0.24-3.04) (0.40-4.80) (1.45-6.56) (0.90-3.17)

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 adjusted OR (95% confidence intervals). Models are adjusted for all covariates in the table.

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.