Associations between backache and stress among undergraduate students

Abstract

Objective: Low back pain (LBP) is a very common symptom. It occurs in all age groups from children to the elderly population. Globally, years lived with disability caused by LBP increased by 54% between 1990 and 2015. Our objective was to investigate measures that associate with LBP in students. Participants: A structured, anonymous, self-report questionnaire was distributed in two study years, 2009 and 2015. Participants included 1,026 students, 57.7% of them female, with a mean age of 27.2 (SD = 6.4). Methods: The questionnaire included validated questions on various subjects related to health status and health behaviors. Results: The associated factors of undergraduate students experiencing backaches are higher if they engage in smoking (AOR = 2.15; p<.01), report study-based stress (AOR = 2.39; p<.01), and show depressive symptoms (AOR = 2.69; p<.000). Conclusions: Smoking, stress, and depression are strong measures associated with backache in undergraduate students, significantly more than BMI, physical activity, or sedentary behaviors.

Keywords:

• Low back pain (LBP)
• undergraduate students
• stress
• depression symptoms

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of Israel and received approval from the Ethics Committee of Ariel University, Israel.