• Hercules R Leite, Amabile B Dario, Alison R Harmer, Vinicius C Oliveira, Manuela L Ferreira, Lucas Calais-Ferreira, and Paulo H Ferreira.
• Programa de Pós-Graduação em Reabilitação e Desempenho Funcional, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), Diamantina, Brazil. hercules.leite@ufvjm.edu.br.
• Eur Spine J. 2019 Feb 1; 28 (2): 224-233.

PurposeTo investigate associations between anthropometric measures (birthweight, weight gain and current BMI) and back pain; and to determine whether these associations differ between those born with low or full birthweight.MethodsThe cross-sectional associations between the lifetime prevalence of back pain and anthropometric measures (birthweight, weight gain and current BMI) among 2754 adult twins were investigated in three stages: total sample; within-pair case-control for monozygotic and dizygotic twins together; and within-pair case-control analysis separated by dizygotic and monozygotic. Results were expressed as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsBirthweight was not associated with back pain (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.99-1.00), but a weak association was found between weight gain (OR 1.01; CI 1.00-1.01) or current BMI (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.00-1.05) and back pain in the total sample analysis. These associations did not remain significant after adjusting for genetics. The associations did not differ between those whose were born with low or full birthweight.ConclusionBirthweight was not associated with prevalence of back pain in adulthood. Weight gain and current BMI were weakly associated with back pain prevalence in the total sample analysis but did not differ between those born with low or full birthweight. However, the small-magnitude association only just achieved significance and appeared to be confounded by genetics and the early shared environment. Our results suggest that a direct link between these predictors and back pain in adults is unlikely. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

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