Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 52, Issue 4 S222-S234, Copyright © 1997 by The Gerontological Society of America
Transitions in chronic low back pain in Japanese older adults: a sociomedical perspective
N Muramatsu, J Liang and H Sugisawa
School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. [email protected]
This study examines the patterns and determinants of chronic low back pain
over a three-year period among older adults in Japan. We tested our model
based on a sociomedical perspective, using a two-wave national probability
sample survey of persons aged 60 and older (N = 2,200) conducted in 1987
and 1990 in Japan. At baseline, the prevalence of chronic low back pain was
18 percent. Among those who were free of back pain at baseline, the
probabilities of onset, death, and nonresponse were 13 percent, 7 percent,
and 10 percent. Among those who had back pain at baseline, the
probabilities of recovery, death, and nonresponse were 43 percent, 8
percent, and 9 percent, respectively. Our multinomial logistic regression
analysis supports our thesis that societal factors (age, gender, education,
and social relationships) affect transitions in chronic back pain not only
directly, but also indirectly through mediating health and health behavior
factors. The results suggest that social relationships have both favorable
and unfavorable effects on chronic low back pain.
