Lower Back Pain Caused by the Impact of COVID-19 Quarantine on Physical Activity and Daily Sitting Among Adult Saudi Arabian Populations in Jeddah: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Participants

Variable	Categories	No.	%
Age	18–30 years	152	52.8%
	31–49 years	75	26.0%
	50–65 years	61	21.2%
Gender	Female	236	81.9%
	Male	52	18.1%
Marital Status	Single	149	51.7%
	Engaged, married	118	41.0%
	Divorced, widowed	21	7.3%
Education Level	Less than high school	8	2.8%
	High school	62	21.5%
	Diploma	16	5.6%
	University	178	61.8%
	Master’s degree in higher education or PhD	24	8.3%
Occupation	Student	116	40.3%
	Education sector	62	21.5%
	Administrative sector	19	6.6%
	Health care sector	25	8.7%
	Engineering and industry sector	13	4.5%
	Technical and computer sector	3	1.0%
	Not working	34	11.8%
	Retired	16	5.6%
Total income (per month in SAR)	<3000	100	34.7%
	3000–5000	35	12.2%
	5000–10,000	41	14.2%
	>10,000	112	38.9%
BMI*	Underweight	20	6.9%
	Normal weight	106	36.8%
	Overweight	68	23.6%
	Obesity type 1	70	24.3%
	Obesity type 2	10	3.5%
	Obesity type 3	14	4.9%
Total		288	100.0%

Notes: *BMI was categorized as underweight if <18.5 kg/m2, normal if 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2, overweight if 25 to 29.9 kg/m2, Obesity class I 30.0–34.9 kg/m2,–Obesity class II 35.0–39.9 kg/m2 and Obesity class III Above 40 kg/m2.

Abbreviation: BMI, body mass index.

Figure 1 Changes in daily sitting before and during the quarantine.

Figure 2 Changes in physical activities before and during the quarantine.

Figure 3 Lower back pain (LBP) levels before and during the quarantine.

Table 2 Relationship Between Daily Sitting and LBP During the Quarantine

Daily Sitting	Intensity of Back Pain During COVID-19 Quarantine				Total
	No pain	Mild	Moderate	Severe
I moved around always	0 (0.0%)	1 (50.0%)	1 (50.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (100.0%)
I moved around most of the time	24 (68.6%)	8 (22.9%)	3 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (100.0%)
I sat and moved equally	17 (44.7%)	16 (42.1%)	4 (10.5%)	1 (2.6%)	38 (100.0%)
I sat most of the time	56 (37.8%)	48 (32.4%)	32 (21.6%)	12 (8.1%)	148 (100.0%)
I was always sitting	20 (30.8%)	19 (29.2%)	23 (35.4%)	3 (4.6%)	65 (100.0%)
Total	117 (40.6%)	92 (31.9%)	63 (21.9%)	16 (5.6%)	288 (100.0%)

Notes: Pearson Chi-Square: 27.7, P-value: 0.007**.

Table 3 Relationship Between PA and LBP During the Quarantine

PA	Intensity of Back Pain During COVID-19 Quarantine				Total
	No pain	Mild	Moderate	Severe
6–7 times a week	5 (55.6%)	4 (44.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (100.0%)
4–5 times a week	24 (64.9%)	12 (32.4%)	1 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (100.0%)
2–3 times a week	15 (35.7%)	12 (28.6%)	13 (31.0%)	2 (4.8%)	42 (100.0%)
Once a week	21 (38.2%)	17 (30.9%)	13 (23.6%)	4 (7.3%)	55 (100.0%)
None	52 (35.9%)	47 (32.4%)	36 (24.8%)	10 (6.9%)	145 (100.0%)
Total	117 (40.6%)	92 (31.9%)	63 (21.9%)	16 (5.6%)	288 (100.0%)

Note: Pearson Chi-Square: 21.4, P-value: 0.045*.

Table 4 Relationship Between Age and Medical Help-Seeking

Age	Medical Help-Seeking		Total
	No	Yes
18–30 years	127 (83.6%)	25 (16.4%)	152 (100.0%)
31–49 years	62 (82.7%)	13 (17.3%)	75 (100.0%)
50–65 years	43 (70.5%)	18 (29.5%)	61 (100.0%)
Total	232 (80.6%)	56 (19.4%)	288 (100.0%)

Note: Pearson Chi-Square: 5.03, P-value: 0.081.

Table 5 Relationship Between Age and Painkiller Use for Back Pain

Age	Using Painkillers for LBP		Total
	No	Yes
18–30 years	114 (75.0%)	38 (25.0%)	152 (100.0%)
31–49 years	52 (69.3%)	23 (30.7%)	75 (100.0%)
50–65 years	39 (63.9%)	22 (36.1%)	61 (100.0%)
Total	205 (71.2%)	83 (28.8%)	288 (100.0%)

Note: Pearson Chi-Square: 2.77, P-value: 0.251.