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Back pain, a communicable disease?

Heiner Raspe1, Angelika Hueppe, Hannelore Neuhauser

  • 1Institute for Social Medicine, University of Luebeck, D Luebeck, Germany. heiner.raspe@uk-sh.de

International Journal of Epidemiology
|November 21, 2007
PubMed
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Back pain (BP) is hypothesized as a communicable condition, not solely biological. Data shows a narrowing prevalence gap between West and East Germany post-reunification, suggesting social transmission of BP.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health
  • Social Science

Background:

  • Back pain (BP) is a prevalent disorder affecting up to 40% of adults in Western Europe.
  • Most cases are classified as 'non-specific' BP, lacking clear patho-anatomical causes.
  • While not typically caused by microorganisms, BP's communicability through information exchange is explored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose and investigate the hypothesis that back pain (BP) functions as a communicable condition.
  • To explore the potential for social and informational transmission of back pain.

Main Methods:

  • Reanalysis of five German health surveys conducted before and after reunification.
  • Examination of back pain prevalence and work disability data trends over time.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Correlation of observed trends with potential social and informational transmission factors.

    • Main Results:

    • A significant initial gap in BP prevalence between West and East Germany was observed post-reunification.
    • This prevalence gap progressively diminished, nearing zero by 2003.
    • Work disability data exhibited a similar convergence trend, supporting the prevalence findings.

    Conclusions:

    • Observed changes in BP prevalence and disability suggest that various transmission processes may be at play.
    • Experimental research indicates that BP-related beliefs and behaviors can be influenced by media, supporting the communicability hypothesis.
    • The study posits that back pain transmission may involve social and informational pathways, akin to other epidemics.