• Brenna Bath, Catherine Trask, Jesse McCrosky, and Josh Lawson.
• *School of Physical Therapy Medicine †Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture; and ‡Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
• Spine. 2014 Nov 1;39(23):1960-8.

Study DesignThis is a cross-sectional design based on analysis of a national survey.ObjectiveTo compare rural- and urban-dwelling adults with self-reported chronic back disorders (CBDs) with respect to their demographic, socioeconomic, comorbidity, and other health status indicators.Summary Of Background DataPeople living in more rural and geographically remote areas have a greater risk of reporting CBD. Very little is known about whether the characteristics among people with CBD are different between rural and urban dwellers.MethodsWe performed a secondary analysis of the 2009 and 2010 Canadian Community Health Surveys to develop a profile of adults with CBD, comparing populations defined by relative rurality of residence. In addition to descriptive analysis using proportions and bivariate logistic regression, multiple logistic regression was used to control for possible confounding and to better understand the differences between rural- and urban-dwelling Canadians with CBD.ResultsWith few exceptions, the descriptive bivariate analysis showed significant differences in demographic, socioeconomic, and health status indicators between rural and urban dwellers with CBD. We found no significant differences with respect to self-reported physical and sedentary activity levels, presence of asthma, presence of mood disorders, probability of depression, and self-rated mental health and pain and self-reported pain and function. The multivariate analysis showed that among adults with CBD, rural residence was significantly associated with lower levels of education (odds ratio [OR], 1.39-1.85), Aboriginal ethnicity (OR, 1.72), being married or in a common-law relationship (OR 1.44), being a former smoker (OR, 1.17) or current smoker (OR, 1.31), and being obese (OR, 1.24), regardless of the presence or number of comorbidities.ConclusionThere are significant sociodemographic and lifestyle differences between rural and urban Canadians with CBD. These differences may have implications for the design and delivery of more equitable and appropriate health services as well as health promotion and prevention efforts.Level Of Evidence2.

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