ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2022
Association of lumbar disc degeneration with low back pain in middle age in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physiological Ageing of the Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a Systematic Literature Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 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
- The prevalence of depression in patients with lumbar degenerative disk disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- ISSLS Prize in Bioengineering Science 2026: Hidden in Plain Sight: Machine Learning-Assisted MRI Reveals Novel Vertebral Body Biomarkers of Chronic Low Back Pain in Humans.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
- Relationship of disc degeneration after pubertal growth spurt to future low back pain: a longitudinal cohort 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
- Associations between single and combined lumbar MRI findings and low back pain with and without leg pain: a cross-sectional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- The role of co-occurring obesity in the association between lumbar disc degeneration and disability related to low back pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Molecular insights into Atorvastatin's role in delaying intervertebral disc degeneration.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Article
- The association of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration with low back pain is modified by underlying genetic propensity to pain.The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society · 2025Article
- Gut microbiome dysbiosis is associated with lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis in symptomatic patients.JOR spine · 2024Article
- Causal association of leisure sedentary behavior and cervical spondylosis, sciatica, intervertebral disk disorders, and low back pain: a Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- EXPLORING THE FEASIBILITY OF PLATELET-RICH PLASMA INJECTIONS FOR INTERVERTEBRAL DISCOPATHY: A PILOT STUDY.Journal of rehabilitation medicine. Clinical communications · 2024Article
- Predictive value of texture analysis on lumbar MRI in patients with chronic low back pain.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 · 2023Observational
- The Relationship between Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Functional Tests Assessment in Patients with Lumbar Disk Hernia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Early disc degeneration in radiotherapy-treated childhood brain tumor survivors.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- ISSLS PRIZE in Clinical Science 2023: comparison of degenerative MRI features of the intervertebral disc between those with and without chronic low back pain. An exploratory study of two large female populations using automated annotation.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 · 2023Article
- The role of co-occurring insomnia and mental distress in the association between lumbar disc degeneration and low back pain related disability.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- Intervertebral disc degeneration-Current therapeutic options and challenges.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough it has been suggested that lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a significant risk factor for low back pain (LBP), its role remains uncertain. Our objective was to clarify the association between LDD and LBP and whether mental distress modifies the association.
methodsParticipants of a birth cohort underwent 1.5-T lumbar magnetic resonance imaging at the age of 47. The association between the sum score of LDD (Pfirrmann classification, range 0-15) and LBP (categorized into "no pain", "mild-to-moderate pain", "bothersome-and-frequent pain") was assessed using logistic regression analysis, with sex, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, occupational exposure, education, and presence of Modic changes and disc herniations as confounders. The modifying role of mental distress (according to the Hopkins Symptom Check List-25 [HSCL-25], the Beck Depression Inventory and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale) in the association was analyzed using linear regression.
resultsOf the study population (n = 1505), 15.2% had bothersome and frequent LBP, and 29.0% had no LBP. A higher LDD sum score increased the odds of belonging to the "mild-to-moderate pain" category (adjusted OR corresponding to an increase of one point in the LDD sum score 1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.18, P = 0.003) and the "bothersome-and-frequent pain" category (adjusted OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.10-1.31, P < 0.001), relative to the "no pain" category. Mental distress significantly modified the association between LDD and LBP, as a linear positive association was consistently observed among individuals without mental distress according to HSCL-25 (adjusted B 0.16, 95% CI 0.07-0.26, P < 0.001), but not among individuals with higher mental distress.
conclusionsLDD was significantly associated with both mild-to-moderate and bothersome-and-frequent LBP. However, the co-occurrence of mental distress diminished the association between LDD and LBP bothersomeness. Our results strongly suggest that mental symptoms affect the pain experience.
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