ArticleJournal of global health2023
Association between smoking and incident back pain: A prospective cohort study with 438 510 participants.
Article in Journal of global health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- The efficacy and mechanisms of low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation on pain: a systematic review of human and animal studies.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- The pain-comorbidity links: a cross-sectional analysis of musculoskeletal burden in Saudi older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Machine Learning Techniques for Identifying Lifestyle Factors Associated With Low Back Pain in Adults Aged 50 and Older Using Data From the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Nursing & health sciences · 2025Article
- Incidence and risk factors of poor prognosis in patients with OVCF following day surgery of percutaneous kyphoplasty: a retrospective study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of neck pain among middle-aged and older adults in China: a cross-sectional study from the CHARLS cohort.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Global, regional, and national burden of low back pain for adults aged 55 and older 1990-2021: an analysis for the global burden of disease study 2021.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Impact of Tobacco Exposure on Low Back Pain-Related Disability-Adjusted Life Years in China: Trends From 1990-2021 and Projections for the Next 15 years Using ARIMA Modeling.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Cancer and the 10-Year Incidence of Chronic Low Back Pain in 407,314 Adults Followed in General Practices in Germany.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Causal impacts of smoking on pain conditions and the mediating pathways: a mendelian randomization study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Association of cigarette smoking, smoking cessation with the risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity in the UK Biobank.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Associations between adverse childhood experiences and pain in middle-aged and older adults: findings from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Mechanisms of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for pain in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Although smoking is a known potential contributor to back pain, there is still a lack of quantitative studies on the effects of different doses on back pain (BP) occurrence, including a lack of a longitudinal cohorts. To address this gap, we aimed to investigate the association between various smoking-related exposures and back pain incidence to advance global efforts toward smoking cessation and guide primary prevention of BP. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we retrieved data on 438 510 patients from the UK Biobank who were free of back pain and who were recruited in 2006-2010, and followed them up from baseline through 1 April 2022. We extracted data on smoking-related exposures, including smoking status (SS), number of cigarettes smoked daily (CPD), and pack-years of own smoking (PY) and examined back pain incidence as an outcome. We used a Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for several covariates, multiple imputation methods, and population attribution fraction. Results: During the median follow-up of 12.98 years, 31 467 participants developed BP, with incidence rates in former and current smokers of 1.13 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10-1.16, P < 0.000) and 1.50 (95% CI = 1.45-1.56, P < 0.000), respectively. The hazard ratios (HRs) of participants who smoked more than 30 CPD and those with more than 30 PY were 1.45 (95% CI = 1.36-1.55, P < 0.000) and 1.45 (95% CI = 1.40-1.50, P < 0.000), respectively. Relative to male, female smokers were at more risk of developing BP. Not smoking, quitting smoking, and reducing CPD and PY could lower the BP risk by 7.8%, 5.4%, 9.8%, and 18.0%, respectively. Conclusions: Ever smoking, higher cigarette consumption daily, and increased smoking intensity were associated with an increased BP risk. This association was stronger in female smokers. Not smoking, smoking cessation, and reducing smoking volume and intensity were effective measures to prevent BP occurrence.
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