ArticleJournal of pain research2026
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Central Sensitization Among Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Journal of pain research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is increasingly recognized as a condition influenced by altered central pain processing. Central Sensitization (CS), characterized by amplified nociceptive signaling within the Central Nervous System (CNS), may contribute to persistent pain, disability and poor treatment response in patients with CLBP. Despite the high burden of CLBP in Uganda, there is lack of local epidemiological data on CS. This study determined the prevalence and associated factors of CS among patients with CLBP attending Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH). Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 304 consecutively recruited adults with CLBP attending MRRH between October 2025 and January 2026. CS was assessed using the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI), with a score ≥40 defining CS. Sociodemographic, clinical, psychological, and lifestyle data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Modified Poisson regression identified factors independently associated with CS. Results: The mean age of participants was 56.5 ± 16.2 years, and 55.9% were female. The prevalence of CS was 33.9% (n=103; 95% CI: 28.9-39.4). Moderate to severe anxiety (aPR=3.24, 95% CI: 2.27-4.63), depression (aPR=1.63, 95% CI: 1.24-2.16), smoking (aPR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.04-1.91), opioid use (aPR=1.36, 95% CI: 1.02-1.81) and topical analgesics (aPR=1.43, 95% CI: 1.004-2.04) were independently associated with CS. Conclusion: Approximately one-third of patients with CLBP at MRRH exhibited features of CS. CS was associated with psychological distress, smoking, and certain analgesic use patterns. These findings reinforce the need for a biopsychosocial model of care in the assessment and management of CLBP, incorporating evaluation of central pain mechanisms, psychological distress, and other social factors that contribute to pain and disability, while prospective longitudinal studies are needed to clarify temporal relationships and causal pathways.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.