1887
Volume 2025, Issue 2
  • E-ISSN: 2220-2749

Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent problem that affects at least 80% of all individuals at some point in their lifetime. LBP was ranked sixth in terms of global disease burden and causes more disability globally than any other condition. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence of LBP and associated risk factors among medical students in Egypt.

A previously validated questionnaire was adopted in our study. Quantitative data were summarized as mean and standard deviation, and the qualitative data were summarized as frequency and percentage. We used the chi-square test to detect an association between different variables and LBP at the point of data collection, 6 and 12 months.

The questionnaire was filled out by 576 medical students. The total prevalence of participants who reported LBP at least once was (481/576, 83.5%). The point prevalence of LBP was 52.4%, while the 6- and 12-month prevalence was 70.1% and 71.5%, respectively. LBP prevalence was significantly associated with sex, with higher prevalence in females than males at point prevalence (57.6% vs. 47%, = 0.011) and 6-month prevalence (75.8% vs. 64.2%, = 0.002). Furthermore, body mass index was significantly associated with LBP during the last 6 months ( = 0.01). Also, LBP was significantly associated with physical activity frequency, chair characteristics, including sitting surface and back support, rest time, and type of daily activity.

There was a high prevalence of LBP among medical students in Egypt. The point, 6= and 12-month prevalence rates underscore the persistent nature of this condition. There is a need for targeted interventions focusing on ergonomics, physical activity, and lifestyle modifications to reduce the burden of LBP and improve overall well-being. Due to the limitations of study design, future longitudinal studies are still required.

© 2025 The Author(s), licensee HBKU Press.
Loading

جارٍ تحميل قياسات المقالة...

/content/journals/10.5339/avi.2025.9
٢٠٢٥-٠٨-٠٥
٢٠٢٥-١٢-٠٧

القياسات

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/avi/2025/2/avi.2025.9.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5339/avi.2025.9&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. The Lancet R. The global epidemic of low back pain. Lancet Rheumatol. 2023; 5:(6):e305.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  2. Chou R. Low back pain (chronic). BMJ Clin Evid. 2010; 2010:: 1116.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  3. Nicol V, Verdaguer C, Daste C, Bisseriex H, Lapeyre É, Lefèvre-Colau MM, et al.. Chronic low back pain: a narrative review of recent international guidelines for diagnosis and conservative treatment. J Clin Med. 2023; 12:(4):1685.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  4. Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, Blyth F, Woolf A, Bain C, et al.. The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014; 73:(6):968–74.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  5. Fatoye F, Gebrye T, Mbada CE, Useh U. Clinical and economic burden of low back pain in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. BMJ Open. 2023; 13:(4):e064119.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  6. Fares MY, Fares J, Salhab HA, Khachfe HH, Bdeir A, Fares Y. Low back pain among weightlifting adolescents and young adults. Cureus. 2020; 12:(7):e9127.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  7. Yabe Y, Hagiwara Y, Sugawara Y, Tsuji I. Low back pain is associated with sleep disturbance: a 3-year longitudinal study after the Great East Japan Earthquake. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2022; 23:(1):1132.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  8. Aggarwal N, Anand T, Kishore J, Ingle GK. Low back pain and associated risk factors among undergraduate students of a medical college in Delhi. Educ Health. 2013; 26:(2):103–8.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  9. Alhadeethi A, Elkhawaga H, Khalil MH, Basheer AA. Prevalence of low back pain and its associated factors among medical students at Nineveh University in Iraq: a cross-sectional study. Cureus. 2024; 16:(7):e65770.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  10. Feleke M, Getachew T, Shewangizaw M, Gebremickael A, Boshe M. Prevalence of low back pain and associated factors among medical students in Wachemo University Southern Ethiopia. Sci Rep. 2024; 14:(1):23518.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  11. Safiri S, Nejadghaderi SA, Noori M, Sullman MJM, Collins GS, Kaufman JS, et al.. The burden of low back pain and its association with socio-demographic variables in the Middle East and North Africa region, 1990-2019. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2023; 24:(1):59.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  12. von Elm E, Altman DG, Egger M, Pocock SJ, Gøtzsche PC, Vandenbroucke JP. Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. BMJ. 2007; 335:(7624):806–8.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  13. Khaled Fahim N, Negida A. Sample size calculation guide - part 1: how to calculate the sample size based on the prevalence rate. Adv J Emerg Med. 2018; 2:(4):e50.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  14. Alian SM, El-Shahawy EE-D, Ragab HM, Yousof MA-bMM. Study of neck and low back pains among students. Egypt J Hosp Med. 2021; 83:(1):831–7.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  15. Sany SA, Tanjim T, Hossain MI. Low back pain and associated risk factors among medical students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. F1000Res. 2021; 10:: 698.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  16. Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S, Sturdivant RX. Chapter 4: Model-building strategies and methods for logistic regression. In: Applied logistic regression. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2013.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  17. Vujcic I, Stojilovic N, Dubljanin E, Ladjevic N, Ladjevic I, Sipetic-Grujicic S. Low back pain among medical students in Belgrade (Serbia): a cross-sectional study. Pain Res Manag. 2018; 2018:: 8317906.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  18. Badrawi N, Hosny S, Ragab L, Ghaly M, Eldeek B, Tawdi AF, et al.. Radical reform of the undergraduate medical education program in a developing country: the Egyptian experience. BMC Med Educ. 2023; 23:(1):143.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  19. Alrabai HM, Aladhayani MH, Alshahrani SM, Alwethenani ZK, Alsahil MJ, Algarni AD. Low back pain prevalence and associated risk factors among medical students at four major medical colleges in Saudi Arabia. J Nat Sci Med. 2021; 4:(3):296–302.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  20. Boussaid S, Daldoul C, Rekik S, Jammali S, Cheour E, Sahli H, et al.. Low back pain among students of Medical University of Tunis. Curr Rheumatol Rev. 2023; 19:(2):205–13.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  21. Lin Y, Zhang X, Li H, Huang Y, Zhang W, Zhang C. Musculoskeletal pain is prevalent in Chinese medical and dental students: a cross-sectional study. Front Public Health. 2022; 10:: 1046466.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  22. Amelot A, Mathon B, Haddad R, Renault MC, Duguet A, Steichen O. Low back pain among medical students: a burden and an impact to consider! Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2019; 44:(19):1390–5.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  23. Tavares C, Salvi CS, Nisihara R, Skare T. Low back pain in Brazilian medical students: a cross-sectional study in 629 individuals. Clin Rheumatol. 2019; 38:(3):939–42.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  24. Campbell A, Wang D, Martin K, Côté P. The one-week prevalence of neck pain and low back pain in post-secondary students at two Canadian institutions. Chiropr Man Therap. 2023; 31:(1):23.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  25. Failla MD, Beach PA, Atalla S, Dietrich MS, Bruehl S, Cowan RL, et al.. Gender differences in pain threshold, unpleasantness, and descending pain modulatory activation across the adult life span: a cross sectional study. J Pain. 2024; 25:(4):1059–69.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  26. Chou L, Brady SRE, Urquhart DM, Teichtahl AJ, Cicuttini FM, Pasco JA, et al.. The association between obesity and low back pain and disability is affected by mood disorders: a population-based, cross-sectional study of men. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016; 95:(15):e3367.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  27. Parreira P, Maher CG, Steffens D, Hancock MJ, Ferreira ML. Risk factors for low back pain and sciatica: an umbrella review. Spine J. 2018; 18:(9):1715–21.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  28. Booth FW, Roberts CK, Laye MJ. Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Compr Physiol. 2012; 2:(2):1143–211.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  29. Aljohani AA, Alarawi SM, Alhusayni YM, Alanazi RA, Alkonani AA, Alatawi BE, et al.. Prevalence of low back pain among university attendants in Tabuk City during 2023: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia. Cureus. 2023; 15:(12):e50357.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  30. Taha YA, Al Swaidan HA, Alyami HS, Alwadany MM, Al-Swaidan MH, Alabbas YH, et al.. The prevalence of low back pain among medical students: a cross-sectional study from Saudi Arabia. Cureus. 2023; 15:(5):e38997.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  31. Du JY, Aichmair A, Schroeder JE, Kiely PD, Nguyen JT, Lebl D. Neck pain and low back pain in medical students: a cross-sectional study. Int Arch Public Health Community Med 2017; 1:(1):002.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  32. Linton SJ. A review of psychological risk factors in back and neck pain. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000; 25:(9):1148–56.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  33. Bair MJ, Robinson RL, Katon W, Kroenke K. Depression and pain comorbidity: a literature review. Arch Intern Med. 2003; 163:(20):2433–45.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  34. Hawas Y, Ayoub M, Esmail E, Elsakka MM, Antonios M, Azeez A, et al.. Cognitive enhancers consumption: prevalence, knowledge, and determinants of use among medical students in Egypt, Sudan, and Jordan. Subst Use Misuse. 2025; 60:(3):436–41.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
  35. Finan PH, Goodin BR, Smith MT. The association of sleep and pain: an update and a path forward. J Pain. 2013; 14:(12):1539–52.
    [Google الباحث العلمي]
/content/journals/10.5339/avi.2025.9
Loading
Low back pain and associated risk factors among medical students in Egypt: A cross-sectional study
Avicenna 2025, 9 (٢٠٢٥); https://doi.org/10.5339/avi.2025.9
/content/journals/10.5339/avi.2025.9
/content/journals/10.5339/avi.2025.9
Loading

جارٍ تحميل البيانات والوسائط...

  • نوع المستند: Research Article
الموضوعات الرئيسية low back pain, Middle East, prevalence, risk factors and spine

الأكثر اقتباسًا لهذا الشهر Most Cited RSS feed

هذه الخانة مطلوبة
يُرجى إدخال عنوان بريد إلكتروني صالح
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error