Prevalence of spinal pain in a population of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Antonija Hrkać; Roberta Perković; Branko Krišto; Livia Puljak

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2022053

Prevalence of spinal pain in a population of Bosnia and Herzegovina

AIMS Public Health. 2022 Dec 5;9(4):790-804. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2022053. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Antonija Hrkać¹, Roberta Perković^{1

2}, Branko Krišto^{2

3}, Livia Puljak⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Studies, University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
² Cantonal Hospital, Dr. Fra Mihovil Sučić, Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
³ School of Medicine, University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
⁴ Center for Evidence-Based Medicine and Health Care, Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of spinal pain in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted online in November/December 2018. Participants were inhabitants of BiH of both sexes, aged ≥ 16 years. The sample was stratified based on region and demographic characteristics. Current pain was analyzed; point prevalence was measured.

Results: We received 1048 responses, of which data from 1017 could be used. The prevalence of spinal pain in BiH was 70.9%: 75.5% in women (n = 440) and 64.7% in men (n = 281). Low back pain (LBP) was more common compared to neck pain (NP) and thoracic pain (TP) in both sexes and all age groups. Significant associations with spinal pain in the bivariate analysis were found for the following groups: women, aged from 30 to 50 years, with high school education, employed persons and retirees, spinal pain in parents, smoking, irregular physical activity, longer use of TV or computer/mobile phone per day.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study of the prevalence of spinal pain in BiH. Some factors associated with spinal pain are modifiable. Therefore, public health interventions should target those factors to reduce the burden of spinal pain in BiH.

Keywords: back pain; low back pain; neck pain; prevalence; spinal pain; thoracic pain.