Source
Stiftung Orthopädische Universitätsklinik Heidelberg, Forschung, Schlierbacher Landstrasse 200a, Heidelberg, Germany. monique.zimmermann-stenzel@ok.uni-heidelberg.de
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
Smoking represents the greatest avoidable risk for a large number of serious diseases. The goal of the present study was to investigate the connection between tobacco consumption and back pain, as such a link has yet to be clearly established.
METHODS:
The analysis was based on the public use file of the German Telephone Health Survey 2003 (n = 8318), carried out by the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin. After exclusion of invalid cases, data on 7271 persons (total model) and 1998 persons (smoker model) were analyzed.
RESULTS:
Multivariate data analysis clearly shows that not only daily smokers (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.85) but also former smokers (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.07) have a significantly higher chance of suffering from chronic back pain than non-smokers. Number of smoking years is the factor most significantly correlated with chronic back pain, while starting age and amount of tobacco consumed have no impact.
DISCUSSION:
Owing to the cross-sectional design of this investigation it is not possible to conclude that smoking causes increased back pain through physical dysfunction. Nevertheless, the correlation should be analyzed in a longitudinal study because clarification of causality always represents potential for prevention.