ArticlePloS one2015
A Comparison of Anthropometric Measures for Assessing the Association between Body Size and Risk of Chronic Low Back Pain: The HUNT Study.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, body fat rate, total body fat mass and risk of low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.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 · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Morphological and Compositional Features of Lumbar Multifidus in Athletes with Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2026Article
- [The connection between back pain and obesity].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Body Composition and Incident High-Intensity Back Pain and/or High Disability: A 10-Year Prospective Population-Based Male Cohort.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Article
- Article
- Overweight and obesity as risk factors for chronic low back pain: a new follow-up in the HUNT Study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Influence of Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, Age, Biological Maturity and Anthropometric Variables on the Probability of Suffering Lumbar, Neck and Shoulder Pain in Spanish Adolescents from the Region of Murcia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Hip and waist circumference correlations with demographic factors and pain intensity in patients with chronic pain.Pain management · 2024Article
- Does Kinesiophobia Mediate the Relationship between Pain Intensity and Disability in Individuals with Chronic Low-Back Pain and Obesity?Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Sagittal Integral Morphotype of Female Classical Ballet Dancers and Predictors of Sciatica and Low Back Pain.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Review
- Article
- Associations between the number of children, age at childbirths and prevalence of chronic low back pain: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Circulating Levels of Visceral Adipose Tissue-Derived Serine Protease Inhibitor (Vaspin) Appear as a Marker of Musculoskeletal Pain Disability.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Dose-response associations of clinical markers of obesity and duration of exposure to excess weight with chronic musculoskeletal pain: cross-sectional analysis at baseline of ELSA-Brasil Musculoskeletal cohort.Rheumatology international · 2020Article
- Article
- High baseline fat mass, but not lean tissue mass, is associated with high intensity low back pain and disability in community-based adults.Arthritis research & therapy · 2019Article
- Back pain and sagittal spine alignment in obese patients eligible for bariatric surgery.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 · 2019Article
- Risk Factors for Perioperative Complications in Morbidly Obese Patients Undergoing Elective Posterior Lumbar Fusion.Global spine journal · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious work indicates that overweight and obese individuals carry an increased risk of experiencing chronic low back pain (LBP). It is not known, however, how the association with body size depends on the choice of anthropometric measure used.
objectiveThis work compares relationships with LBP for several measures of body size. Different results may indicate underlying mechanisms for the association between body size and risk of LBP.
methodsIn a cohort study, baseline information was collected in the community-based HUNT2 (1995-1997) and HUNT3 (2006-2008) surveys in Norway. Participants were 10,059 women and 8725 men aged 30-69 years without LBP, and 3883 women and 2662 men with LBP at baseline. Associations with LBP at end of follow-up were assessed by generalized linear modeling, with adjustment for potential confounders.
resultsRelationships between waist-hip-ratio and occurrence of LBP at end of follow-up were weak and non-significant after adjustment for age, education, work status, physical activity, smoking, lipid levels and blood pressure. Positive associations with LBP at end of follow-up were all significant for body weight, BMI, waist circumference and hip circumference after similar adjustment, both in women without and with LBP at baseline, and in men without LBP at baseline. After additional mutual adjustment for anthropometric measures, the magnitude of the association with body weight increased in women without LBP at baseline (RR: 1.130 per standard deviation, 95% CI: 0.995-1.284) and in men (RR: 1.124, 95% CI 0.976-1.294), with other measures showing weak associations only.
conclusionCentral adiposity is unlikely to play a major role in the etiology of LBP. Total fat mass may be one common factor underlying the associations observed. The association with body weight remaining after mutual adjustment may reflect mechanical or structural components behind the relationship between overweight or obesity and LBP.
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