Low Back Pain Prevalence in Indonesian Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Low back pain (LBP) in Indonesia has emerged as a significant health issue among older adults. Consequently, this systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the prevalence of LBP among older adults in Indonesia.

Five electronic databases (Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], PubMed, EMBASE, OVID Medline, and GARUDA database) were systematically searched without restrictions on language or publication year for relevant articles from their inception through October 2024.

This systematic review and meta-analysis adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The qualitative synthesis was done regarding the pain severity, study settings, age groups, sex, and occupation of the older adults. All analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software, and results are presented as percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

A total of 12 studies were included. These studies covered 8 of 34 provinces in Indonesia, and the overall pooled prevalence of LBP in older adults was estimated to be 32.2% (95% CI: 17.6%-51.5%). The trim-and-fill analysis showed that the adjusted pooled prevalence of LBP was 14.32% (95% CI: 6.2%-29.6%) after four studies were trimmed. Subgroup analyses were conducted across five variables: pain severity, study settings, age group, sex, and occupation among older adults.

This study is the first meta-analysis to report the pooled prevalence of LBP in older adults residing in Indonesia. The rising incidence of LBP among older adults necessitates greater attention from both government authorities and healthcare professionals.