TY - JOUR
T1 - Lumbar disc degeneration and genetic factors are the main risk factors for low back pain in women
T2 - The UK Twin Spine Study
AU - Livshits, Gregory
AU - Popham, Maria
AU - Malkin, Ida
AU - Sambrook, Philip N.
AU - MacGregor, Alex J.
AU - Spector, Timothy
AU - Williams, Frances M.K.
PY - 2011/10
Y1 - 2011/10
N2 - Objective: Low back pain (LBP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder, but it is still unclear which individuals develop it. The authors examined the contribution of genetic factors, lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) and other risk factors in a female sample of the general population. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2256 women (371 and 698 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs and 29 sibling pairs and 60 singletons) with a mean age of 50 years (18-84). A self-reported validated questionnaire was used to collect back pain data. Risk factors including body weight, smoking, occupation, physical exercise and MRI assessed LDD were measured. Data analysis included logistic regression and variance decomposition. Results: The major factors associated with LBP included genetic background, with OR approximately 6 if the monozygotic co-twin had LBP, or 2.2 if she was a dizygotic co-twin. In addition, LDD and overweight were highly significantly (p<0.001) associated with non-specific LBP. The single most important risk factor was the amount of LDD. After adjustment for other risk factors, the individuals who exhibited advanced LDD (90% vs 10%) had 3.2 higher odds of manifesting LBP. The data also showed a significant (p<0.001) genetic correlation between the LBP and LDD measurements, suggesting that approximately 11-13% of the genetic effects are shared by LDD and LBP. Conclusions: The main risk factors for reported episodes of severe and disabling LBP in UK women include the degree of LDD as assessed by MRI, being overweight and genetic heritability.
AB - Objective: Low back pain (LBP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder, but it is still unclear which individuals develop it. The authors examined the contribution of genetic factors, lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) and other risk factors in a female sample of the general population. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2256 women (371 and 698 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs and 29 sibling pairs and 60 singletons) with a mean age of 50 years (18-84). A self-reported validated questionnaire was used to collect back pain data. Risk factors including body weight, smoking, occupation, physical exercise and MRI assessed LDD were measured. Data analysis included logistic regression and variance decomposition. Results: The major factors associated with LBP included genetic background, with OR approximately 6 if the monozygotic co-twin had LBP, or 2.2 if she was a dizygotic co-twin. In addition, LDD and overweight were highly significantly (p<0.001) associated with non-specific LBP. The single most important risk factor was the amount of LDD. After adjustment for other risk factors, the individuals who exhibited advanced LDD (90% vs 10%) had 3.2 higher odds of manifesting LBP. The data also showed a significant (p<0.001) genetic correlation between the LBP and LDD measurements, suggesting that approximately 11-13% of the genetic effects are shared by LDD and LBP. Conclusions: The main risk factors for reported episodes of severe and disabling LBP in UK women include the degree of LDD as assessed by MRI, being overweight and genetic heritability.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052462548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/ard.2010.137836
DO - 10.1136/ard.2010.137836
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AN - SCOPUS:80052462548
SN - 0003-4967
VL - 70
SP - 1740
EP - 1745
JO - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
IS - 10
ER -