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BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Published in: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 1/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research article

Back pain in seniors: the Back pain Outcomes using Longitudinal Data (BOLD) cohort baseline data

Authors: Jeffrey G Jarvik, Bryan A Comstock, Patrick J Heagerty, Judith A Turner, Sean D Sullivan, Xu Shi, David R Nerenz, Srdjan S Nedeljkovic, Larry Kessler, Kathryn James, Janna L Friedly, Brian W Bresnahan, Zoya Bauer, Andrew L Avins, Richard A Deyo

Published in: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Background

Back pain represents a substantial burden globally, ranking first in a recent assessment among causes of years lived with disability. Though back pain is widely studied among working age adults, there are gaps with respect to basic descriptive epidemiology among seniors, especially in the United States. Our goal was to describe how pain, function and health-related quality of life vary by demographic and geographic factors among seniors presenting to primary care providers with new episodes of care for back pain.

Methods

We examined baseline data from the Back pain Outcomes using Longitudinal Data (BOLD) registry, the largest inception cohort to date of seniors presenting to a primary care provider for back pain. The sample included 5,239 patients ≥ 65 years old with a new primary care visit for back pain at three integrated health systems (Northern California Kaiser-Permanente, Henry Ford Health System [Detroit], and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates [Boston]). We examined differences in patient characteristics across healthcare sites and associations of patient sociodemographic and clinical characteristics with baseline patient-reported measures of pain, function, and health-related quality of life.

Results

Patients differed across sites in demographic and other characteristics. The Detroit site had more African-American patients (50%) compared with the other sites (7-8%). The Boston site had more college graduates (68%) compared with Detroit (20%). Female sex, lower educational status, African-American race, and older age were associated with worse functional disability as measured by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire. Except for age, these factors were also associated with worse pain.

Conclusions

Baseline pain and functional impairment varied substantially with a number of factors in the BOLD cohort. Healthcare site was an important factor. After controlling for healthcare site, lower education, female sex, African-American race, and older age were associated with worse physical disability and all of these factors except age were associated with worse pain.

Trial registration

Clinical Trials.gov NCT01776242; Registration date: June 13, 2012.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Back pain in seniors: the Back pain Outcomes using Longitudinal Data (BOLD) cohort baseline data
Authors
Jeffrey G Jarvik
Bryan A Comstock
Patrick J Heagerty
Judith A Turner
Sean D Sullivan
Xu Shi
David R Nerenz
Srdjan S Nedeljkovic
Larry Kessler
Kathryn James
Janna L Friedly
Brian W Bresnahan
Zoya Bauer
Andrew L Avins
Richard A Deyo
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders / Issue 1/2014
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2474
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-15-134

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