SynthesisBMC musculoskeletal disorders2024
Risk factors for low back pain amongst adults in Nigeria and South Africa: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- SPINE20 recommendations 2025: Sustainable spine care for all.Brain & spine · 2026Article
- The burden of low back pain in BRICS: an analysis for the global burden of disease study 2021.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe burden on the individual, society and healthcare providers of low back pain in the western world is well documented. Globalisation and urbanisation, it has been reported, has led to an increase in low back pain in developing countries such as those situated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Low back pain determinants are framed, according to the individual, social and cultural context. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the risk factors of low back pain in Nigeria and South Africa, whose growing and modernising economies operate alongside more traditional labour-intensive practices provide a comparison for modern-day Sub-Saharan Africa.
methodsStudy eligibility included: etiological studies (whose primary objective is to explore/determine risk factors of lower back pain within the population) to include published literature AND non-published manuscripts and 'grey literature' (i.e. conference abstracts, thesis and preprints where applicable), studies exploring MSK pain in general if more than 80% of the sample complained of LBP, studies focussing on Nigerian or South African residents, studies including individuals aged 18 years or over and reports printed in the English language. Risk of bias was determined using the AXIS and CASP critical appraisal tools. Owing to study heterogeneity a stratified synthesis was performed to analyse study data.
resultsThirty-nine studies were included. Overall, a total of twenty-two sociodemographic, lifestyle, occupational and psychosocial risk factors were identified. There is good quality evidence of an association between the following risk factors and low back pain: advancing age, female gender, obesity, nature and duration of work, posture, manual handling, perceptions of work, job autonomy and disease conviction.
conclusionThis review suggests common risk factors for low back pain exists in Nigerian and South African populations as they do in other countries.
fundingNo funding was received for this systematic review. TRAIL REGISTRATION: The protocol for this review was registered on PROSPERO prior to commencement (protocol registration number: CRD 42023378363). CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
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