Association Between Smoking and Pain, Functional Disability, Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain

Int J Public Health. 2023 Mar 7:68:1605583. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605583. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Objectives: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) accounts for a majority of the disability associated with LBP, which can produce long-term negative effects. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between smoking and pain, dysfunction and psychological status in patients with CLBP. Methods: The 54 patients with CLBP were recruited and divided into smoking and non-smoking groups. Their pain, dysfunction, anxiety, depression, fear and quality of life were evaluated. The amount of cigarettes smoked daily was recorded. Results: Significant differences in VAS, ODI, RMDQ and FABQ and the impact of LBP on life and work were found between smoking and non-smoking patients. In addition, a correlation was found between the daily cigarette smoking amount and VASmax, FABQtotal, SDS and FABQ-W. Moreover, a correlation was observed between the amount of cigarettes smoked daily and the degree of impact of low back pain on work. Conclusion: The study found that smoking affected the aggravation of symptoms in patients with CLBP, which indicated that patients with CLBP and people at risk of LBP should be aware of the harm caused by smoking.

Keywords: chronic low back pain; correlation; pain management; psychological symptom; tobacco use.

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety / epidemiology
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Depression / epidemiology
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Humans
  • Low Back Pain* / diagnosis
  • Low Back Pain* / epidemiology
  • Quality of Life
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The authors disclosed receipt of financial support from the following for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The scientific and technological research program of the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (Fund number: 19080503100; 21S31902400); the Shanghai Key Lab of Human Performance (Shanghai University of Sport) (11DZ2261100); Shanghai Frontiers Science Research Base of Exercise and Metabolic Health; Talent Development Fund of Shanghai Municipal (2021081); Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Rehabilitation Medicine (21MC1930200).