Low Back Pain and Smoking in a Community Sample in Japan

Low Back Pain and Smoking in a Community Sample in Japan: Tetsuya Otani, et al. Department of Public Health, Gunma University School of Medicine —A cross‐sectional study with a self‐administered questionnaire was conducted in order to examine the association between low back pain and smoking. The subjects analyzed were 6,891 adults aged 40‐69 yr, who lived in a downtown district in Isesaki City, Gunma, Japan. There was a positive association between cigarette smoking and low back pain in men. The age‐adjusted odds ratios of low back pain were 1.32 (95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.10,1.57) for 1‐20 cigarettes smoked per day and 1.40 (95% Cl 1.11,1.76) for 21 or more. The association had similar strength after adjustment for alcohol consumption, physical exercise, body mass index, non‐ musculoskeletal disease, education, occupation, and whether living with parents, living with a child or children, or living alone. The multivariate odds ratios for low back pain were 1.29 (95% Cl 1.03, 1.62) for 1‐ 20 cigarettes smoked per day and 1.36 (95% Cl 1.03, 1.80) for 21 or more. In conclusion, smoking was significantly related to low back pain, even if adjusted for other potential risk factors.