Pro-inflammatory diet associated with low back pain in adults aged 50 and older

Dayeon Shin; Se Jin Hong; Kyung Won Lee; Nitin Shivappa; James R Hebert; Kyounghae Kim

doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2022.151589

Pro-inflammatory diet associated with low back pain in adults aged 50 and older

Appl Nurs Res. 2022 Aug:66:151589. doi: 10.1016/j.apnr.2022.151589. Epub 2022 May 13.

Authors

Dayeon Shin¹, Se Jin Hong², Kyung Won Lee³, Nitin Shivappa⁴, James R Hebert⁵, Kyounghae Kim⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food and Nutrition, Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Michuhol-gu, Incheon 22212, South Korea. Electronic address: dyshin@inha.ac.kr.
² College of Nursing, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02841, South Korea; Institute of Nursing Research, Korea University, South Korea. Electronic address: ssjj14@korea.ac.kr.
³ Department of Home Economics Education, Korea National University of Education, Cheongju 28173, South Korea. Electronic address: kwlee@knue.ac.kr.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; Cancer Prevention and Control Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; Department of Nutrition, Connecting Health Innovations LLC, Columbia, SC 29201, USA. Electronic address: Shivappa@mailbox.sc.edu.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; Cancer Prevention and Control Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; Department of Nutrition, Connecting Health Innovations LLC, Columbia, SC 29201, USA. Electronic address: JHEBERT@mailbox.sc.edu.
⁶ College of Nursing, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02841, South Korea; Institute of Nursing Research, Korea University, South Korea; Transdisciplinary Major in Learning Health Systems, Department of Healthcare Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University, South Korea. Electronic address: kyounghaekim@korea.ac.kr.

PMID: 35840267
DOI: 10.1016/j.apnr.2022.151589

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the association between pro-inflammatory diets and low back pain in a nationally representative sample of Korean adults.

Background: Low back pain is one of the most common health issues. Evidence suggests a potential association between systemic inflammation and the development of low back pain, and the role of diet in mitigating the inflammation that, in turn, can alleviate low back pain.

Methods: This cross-sectional, correlational study used data from the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving health interviews, examinations, and nutritional surveys. Dietary inflammatory index scores were generated based on 24-hour dietary recalls. Respondents were asked if they had experienced low back pain for at least 30 days in the past three months. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the independent association between pro-inflammatory diets and low back pain.

Results: Of 7346 respondents, most participants were middle-aged, married, and non-/ex-smokers, lived in 2+ person households, consumed alcohol less than once a week, and had no allergies or underlying medical conditions. Respondents in the highest inflammatory diet quintile had nearly 0.25 higher odds of reporting low back pain than those in the lowest quintile (adjusted OR_quintile5vs1: 1.25, 95%CI [1.01-1.54]; p = .043).

Conclusions: Results from this study indicate a role of pro-inflammatory diets in the development of low back pain. Nurses can screen for those consuming pro-inflammatory foods, and thus, are vulnerable to back pain, and aid in the delivery of tailored nutritional education. Future studies should investigate how diet affects low back pain diagnosis and chronicity relative to pain phenotypes.

Keywords: Diet; Healthy lifestyle; Inflammation; Low back pain; Nutrition surveys.

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Diet
Humans
Inflammation
Low Back Pain*
Nutrition Surveys