Who is the typical back pain patient? 5 key trends

Spine Leaders

Eighty percent of Americans will report back pain in their lifetimes, according to recent statistics published in The Good Body. But who is the typical back pain patient?

Here is a profile, statistically speaking, of the most common back pain patient today:

 

1. The typical back pain patient is likely at least 65 years old; in 2013, around 37 percent of adults 65 years or older experienced back pain, compared to 29 percent of adults 18 to 64 years old. As the baby boomer population ages, the number of geriatric back pain patients will continue to increase.

 

2. Women are more likely to report back pain than men; around 30.2 percent of women suffer from low back pain when compared with 26.4 percent of men.

 

3. Office-based workers are a likely culprit for back pain; while in years past, labor intensive jobs requiring lifting or rotating the back caused back pain. However, today 54 percent of Americans with back pain report spending most of their workday sitting at a desk.

 

4. Half of pregnant women complain of significant backache, and the complaints are likely to increase if the woman had pain before becoming pregnant.

 

5. Most back pain patients face acute issues; 90 percent report their pain is resolved within six weeks but a high percentage — 60 to 80 percent — report a recurrence within two years. Just 7 percent report developing chronic back pain.

 

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