Preliminary results of an epidemiological study of back pain in a Prague population

The authors present the preliminary results of an ongoing epidemiological study designed to determine the prevalence of back pain at selected worksites of Czechoslovak State Railways and Avia Letnany, an industrial plant. Examination of a total of 1,555 subjects was conducted by a field team of health-care workers of the Research Institute of Rheumatic Diseases based in Prague. The examination included a detailed medical history, physical examination and, in some probands, the results of HLA B 27 antigen determination, and x-ray examination. Overall, the prevalence of back pain in the cohort was 67%, with 63% and 76% in men and women, respectively. First complaints of back pain are most frequently reported by subjects in their 20s and 30s. The highest prevalence rate was registered in persons aged 50. The pain, as a symptom of a broad spectrum of pathological states, was most often localized in the lumbar and cervical segments of the spine -- 71% and 32%, respectively. In terms of the professions studied, the lowest prevalence was found in a group of manual workers employed at some worksites of the AVIA factory, with the highest frequency of back pain observed in an inconsistent group of diverse jobs, mostly requiring minimal training. In the Discussion section, the authors compare their results with those reported by some other studies published abroad.