Publication:

Prevalence and severity of low back pain among postmenopausal women: a community-based study in block Hazratbal of Srinagar district

Background Menopause brings with it a cluster of symptoms and health problems. Low back ache (LBA) decreases the quality of life both socially and economically by increasing sickness absenteeism. Women are more likely to have backache and more so after menopause. Objective of the study was to find out the prevalence of LBA among postmenopausal women and also to assess the severity of the LBA.

Methods This was a cross-sectional community-based study conducted in block Hazratbal of district Srinagar, the field practice area of the department of community medicine, Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar. The data was collected over a period of 3 months in 2018 by consecutive sampling by going door to door in the area. A woman who had attained menopause as per the definition was included in the study.

Results A total of 198 women were included. Mean age at the time of contact was 53.56 years. The prevalence of LBA among these women was 77.8% (154 of 198 women) with almost 55% women having moderate LBA and 16% women grading their LBA as severe. Those in late menopause were 4 times more likely to have severe LBA than those in early menopause.

Conclusions The magnitude of LBA among postmenopausal women is huge. About one quarter of these women have severe LBA. Therefore, to maintain a good quality of life of these women, specific measures to tackle this problem must be taken.