• Lise Hestbaek, Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde, Kirsten Ohm Kyvik, and Claus Manniche.
• The Back Research Centre, Hospital of Funen, DK-5750 Ringe. hestbaek@vip.cypercity.dk
• Dan Med Bull. 2003 May 1;50(2):181-5.

IntroductionLow back pain has been associated with an increased risk of several diseases and with poor general health. Also low birth weight has been associated with an increased susceptibility to various diseases as well as with poor general health. Thus, low birth weight could be a common factor--indicating a general frailty with an increased risk of both low back pain and overall morbidity. To our knowledge, the association between low back pain and birth weight has not previously been investigated. This study investigates the correlation between birth characteristics and low back pain in adolescence.Material And MethodsAnalyses are based on data from The Danish Twin Registry. Information about low back pain is from a postal survey, and information about birth characteristics are from The Danish Medical Birth Register. Analyses include 8278 individuals aged 12-22 years--an age at which they are still largely unaffected by the influence of working life. Possible associations between low back pain, birth weight, birth length, ponderal index, gestational age and Apgar scores are investigated by the use of logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe odds ratio for the lifetime prevalence of low back pain increases from 1.21 (0.94-1.56) for a birth weight of 2000-2500 g to 1.97 (1.35-2.88) for a birth weight of > 3500 g compared to the smallest weight group (< 2000 g) in males, whereas there is a small statistically insignificant, positive association for females. The same pattern is seen for the one-year prevalence of low back pain. No associations are documented between low back pain and other birth factors. The positive association between low back pain and birth weight is independent of other birth factors and of anthropometric measures in adolescence.ConclusionThere is a statistically significant association between high birth weight and the risk of developing low back pain in males but not in females. Our results do not indicate that frailty at birth increases the risk of low back pain in adolescence.

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