SynthesisAJNR. American journal of neuroradiology2015
MRI Findings of Disc Degeneration are More Prevalent in Adults with Low Back Pain than in Asymptomatic Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 281 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
281 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 560 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Impact of Exercise on Intervertebral Disc Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of thoracic degenerative MRI findings and association with pain and disability: a systematic review.Skeletal radiology · 2025Pooled it
- Associations Between Sum Scores or Combinations of MRI Findings in the Lumbar Spine and Low Back Pain-Related Outcomes: A Systematic Review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Research trend of MRI application for lumbar disc degeneration with low back pain: a bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Running is associated with intervertebral disc adaptations: a pre-planned secondary analysis of the ASTEROID randomised controlled trial.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Trial
- Efficacy of a Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor in Chronic Low-Back Pain With Modic Type 1 Changes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Trial
- Supplemental Nucleus Pulposus Allograft in Patients with Lumbar Discogenic Pain: Evaluation of Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Life in Medicare Beneficiaries.Clinical interventions in aging · 2025Trial
- Retrospective Analysis of Factors Associated with the Treatment Outcomes of Intradiscal Platelet-Rich Plasma-Releasate Injection Therapy for Patients with Discogenic Low Back Pain.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Trial
- Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome in Patients with Degenerative Lumbar Spine Disease: Clinical Findings and Short-Term Outcomes in a Retrospective Cohort Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Age-Related Transitions in Low Back Pain Pathology: A Life-Course Narrative Review.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Spinal Muscle Health in Chronic Low Back Pain: An Integrated Narrative Review of Muscle Quality, Function, and Clinical Implications.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Transparent, Reproducible Text-Based Phenotyping of Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration from 500 Consecutive MRI Reports, with a Pre-Specified Image Analysis Framework.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Electron Microscopic Insights into Degenerating Lumbar Intervertebral Disc: A Prospective, Cohort Study.Asian journal of neurosurgery · 2026Article
- Article
- Pamidronate is ineffective for inflammatory-like low back pain associated with Modic type 1 changes: A double-blind, randomised controlled trial.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Age-referenced modeling of lumbar disc degeneration and its association with chronic low back pain: an MRI-based cross-sectional study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Not just alignment: body shape influences adult spinal deformity biomechanics.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Lumbar Magnetic Resonance Imaging Profiles and Their Association with Low Back Pain in Dentists: A Cluster Analysis Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Artificial Intelligence in Spine Neuroimaging: Diagnostic and Prognostic Utility of Novel Biomarkers in Lower Back Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
221 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
background and purposeImaging features of spine degeneration are common in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. We compared the prevalence of MR imaging features of lumbar spine degeneration in adults 50 years of age and younger with and without self-reported low back pain. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe performed a meta-analysis of studies reporting the prevalence of degenerative lumbar spine MR imaging findings in asymptomatic and symptomatic adults 50 years of age or younger. Symptomatic individuals had axial low back pain with or without radicular symptoms. Two reviewers evaluated each article for the following outcomes: disc bulge, disc degeneration, disc extrusion, disc protrusion, annular fissures, Modic 1 changes, any Modic changes, central canal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and spondylolysis. The meta-analysis was performed by using a random-effects model.
resultsAn initial search yielded 280 unique studies. Fourteen (5.0%) met the inclusion criteria (3097 individuals; 1193, 38.6%, asymptomatic; 1904, 61.4%, symptomatic). Imaging findings with a higher prevalence in symptomatic individuals 50 years of age or younger included disc bulge (OR, 7.54; 95% CI, 1.28-44.56; P = .03), spondylolysis (OR, 5.06; 95% CI, 1.65-15.53; P < .01), disc extrusion (OR, 4.38; 95% CI, 1.98-9.68; P < .01), Modic 1 changes (OR, 4.01; 95% CI, 1.10-14.55; P = .04), disc protrusion (OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.52-4.62; P < .01), and disc degeneration (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.21-4.15, P = .01). Imaging findings not associated with low back pain included any Modic change (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 0.48-5.41, P = .43), central canal stenosis (OR, 20.58; 95% CI, 0.05-798.77; P = .32), high-intensity zone (OR = 2.10; 95% CI, 0.73-6.02; P = .17), annular fissures (OR = 1.79; 95% CI, 0.97-3.31; P = .06), and spondylolisthesis (OR = 1.59; 95% CI, 0.78-3.24; P = .20).
conclusionsMeta-analysis demonstrates that MR imaging evidence of disc bulge, degeneration, extrusion, protrusion, Modic 1 changes, and spondylolysis are more prevalent in adults 50 years of age or younger with back pain compared with asymptomatic individuals.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.