Incidence and risk factors of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc or sciatica leading to hospitalization

doi:10.1016/0021-9681(87)90161-5

Journal of Chronic Diseases

Volume 40, Issue 3, 1987, Pages 251-258

Journal of Chronic D...

https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9681(87)90161-5 Get rights and content

Abstract

Hospital admissions for herniated lumbar intervertebral disc or sciatica were followed up over a period of 11 years in 57,000 men and women who had participated in medical check-ups in various parts of Finland. Information on their hospitalizations after the baseline examination was obtained by record linkage to the National Hospital Discharge Register. To identify factors predicting back diseases, four controls matched individually for sex, age and place of residence were chosen for each of the 592 incidence cases who were free from severe back trouble and aged 20–59 at entry. Low or intermediate social class and blue-collar occupations in services or industry in men and symptoms suggesting psychological distress in women proved significant predictors for hospitalization due to herniated lumbar disc or sciatica. An association with the risk was suggested for smoking or chronic cough in men and parity in women. Marital status or leisure time physical activity were not predictive of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc or sciatica.

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Cited by (136)

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The objective of this study was to identify the difference on pain intensity and disability between particulate and nonparticulate steroid injections in patients with lumbar radicular pain. Subgroup analysis by study design, type of particulate steroid, and follow-up duration were performed.
We performed the literature search in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library up March, 2023.
Studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized studies, that compared particulate steroid injection and nonparticulate steroid injection in patients with lumbar radicular pain were independently reviewed by 2 reviewers for eligibility for inclusion.
Outcomes of interest were pain intensity and disability. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of included studies using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB2.0) tool for RCTs and the Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions Tool (ROBINS-I) for nonrandomized studies. Effect sizes were estimated using mean difference (MD) and standardized mean difference (SMD).
A total of 10 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed no significant difference in visual analog scale, disability score and the numbers of patients with 50% pain reduction between particulate and nonparticulate steroid injection groups (P>.05). Particulate steroid injections showed significant better effect in pain scale in RCTs (MD=0.62; 95% CI 0.08-1.16, P=.02). In subgroup analysis with steroid types, methylprednisolone showed better effect compared with dexamethasone, while dexamethasone showed better effect compared with betamethasone.
This meta-analysis suggested no significant differences between the particulate and nonparticulate steroid groups in pain or disability score. Therefore, considering the safety profile of nonparticulate steroids, nonparticulate steroid injection may be helpful in patients with lumbar radicular pain.
Associations of socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics, psychological symptoms, multimorbidity, and multisite pain with sciatica – a 15-year longitudinal study
2024, Spine Journal
Sciatica is defined as pain radiating from the low back to the leg, usually below the knee. It is a disabling condition that causes a major burden to health care and society. Previous evidence of the multifactorial etiology of sciatica comes mostly from cross-sectional studies. Larger, longitudinal studies with a multidimensional set of variables are needed.
To examine how socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics, psychological symptoms, multimorbidity, and multisite pain are associated with sciatica.
A longitudinal study of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.
In total 6,683 working-aged members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.
Self-reported sciatic pain status over a 15-year study period.
We conducted a 15-year longitudinal study from the age of 31 to 46. We used multivariable generalized estimation equations analysis to examine how socioeconomic characteristics (low education, unemployment, and living alone), lifestyle characteristics (overweight, obesity, current smoking, and physical inactivity), psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety), multimorbidity, and multisite pain were associated with sciatica.
At the age of 31, 21.1% of the study population reported sciatic pain and at the age of 46, 36.7%. Multisite pain was clearly the strongest factor associated with sciatica (odds ratio [OR] 2.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.34‒2.92). In descending order of effect size, older age, low education, psychological symptoms, multimorbidity, overweight, obesity, physical inactivity and current smoking were positively associated with sciatica. Their ORs varied between 1.17 and 2.18. Living alone was negatively associated with sciatica (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.72‒0.90).
Multisite pain had the strongest association with sciatica. The effect sizes of the other factors were clearly smaller. To our knowledge this is the first study to evaluate the association of multisite pain with sciatica. This finding may have considerable implications for clinical work treating patients with sciatica.
A Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Persons With Non-specific Low Back Pain With and Without Radiculopathy: Identification of Best Evidence for Rehabilitation to Develop the WHO's Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation
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To Identify evidence-based rehabilitation interventions for persons with non-specific low back pain (LBP) with and without radiculopathy and to develop recommendations from high-quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to inform the World Health Organization's (WHO) Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation (PIR).
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, National Health Services Economic Evaluation Database, Health Technology Assessment Database, PEDro, the Trip Database, the Index to Chiropractic Literature and the gray literature.
Eligible guidelines were (1) published between 2009 and 2019 in English, French, Italian, or Swedish; (2) included adults or children with non-specific LBP with or without radiculopathy; and (3) assessed the benefits of rehabilitation interventions on functioning. Pairs of independent reviewers assessed the quality of the CPGs using AGREE II.
We identified 4 high-quality CPGs. Recommended interventions included (1) education about recovery expectations, self-management strategies, and maintenance of usual activities; (2) multimodal approaches incorporating education, exercise, and spinal manipulation; (3) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs combined with education in the acute stage; and (4) intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation that includes exercise and cognitive/behavioral interventions for persistent pain. We did not identify high-quality CPGs for people younger than 16 years of age.
We developed evidence-based recommendations from high-quality CPGs to inform the WHO PIR for people with LBP with and without radiculopathy. These recommendations emphasize the potential benefits of education, exercise, manual therapy, and cognitive/behavioral interventions.
Patient-related risk factors and lifestyle factors for lumbar degenerative disc disease: a systematic review
2023, Neurochirurgie
Back pain is a very widespread disease pattern and is one of the most frequent causes for consultation of a physician in general. In most cases, discogenic changes are the pathomorphological correlate of back pain. Numerous risk factors have been identified for these degenerative changes, but the influence and significance of the risk factors remain unclear, which was the aim of this systematic review.
A systematic literature search of the commonly used Pubmed database was performed using specific MESH terms. Further selection of the included studies was performed according to the PRISMA scheme, taking into account scientific merit as well as the relation to the research question.
A total of 111 studies out of 1035 found were finally included in the literature search. 134 risk factors for disc degeneration and disc herniation were identified. These were divided into (1) patient-specific risk factors (n░=░34), (2) radiological risk factors (n░=░31), (3) lifestyle risk factors (n░=░6), (4) workplace-related risk factors (n░=░12), (5) genetic risk factors (n░=░50), and (6) other risk factors (n░=░1). Non-adjustable risk factors were age >50 years (OR 1.7/year), female gender (OR 1.41), family disposition (OR 4.0), comorbidities like atherosclerosis (OR 2.24), arthritic changes in other joints (OR 3.1) and history of injuries of the back (OR 3.1). Adjustable factors were elevated BMI (OR 2.77), comorbidities like hypertension (OR 1.25), dyslipidemia (OR 1.26) and diabetes mellitus (OR 6.8), as well as lifestyle habits like smoking (OR 3.8).
In summary, intervertebral disc degenerations and herniations represent multifactorial events whose risk factors can be partly influenced and partly not influenced. This systematic review highlights the current state of knowledge as a basis for creating patient-specific algorithms to calculate risk for the development or progression of degenerative disc changes and disc herniations.
A neuromuscular human body model for lumbar injury risk analysis in a vibration loading environment
2023, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
Long-term intensive exposure to whole-body vibration substantially increases the risk of low back pain and degenerative diseases in special occupational groups, like motor vehicle drivers, military vehicle occupants, aircraft pilots, etc. This study aims to establish and validate a neuromuscular human body model focusing on improvement of the detailed description of anatomic structures and neural reflex control, for lumbar injury analysis in vibration loading environments.
A whole-body musculoskeletal in Opensim codes was first improved by including a detailed anatomic description of spinal ligaments, non-linear intervertebral disc, and lumbar facet joints, and coupling a proprioceptive feedback closed-loop control strategy with GTOs and muscle spindles modeling in Python codes. Then, the established neuromuscular model was multi-levelly validated from sub-segments to the whole model, from regular movements to dynamic responses to vibration loadings. Finally, the neuromuscular model was combined with a dynamic model of an armored vehicle to analyze occupant lumbar injury risk in vibration loadings due to different road conditions and traveling velocities.
Based on a series of biomechanical indexes, including lumbar joint rotation angles, the lumbar intervertebral pressures, the displacement of the lumbar segments, and the lumbar muscle activities, the validation results show that the present neuromuscular model is available and feasible in predicting lumbar biomechanical responses in normal daily movement and vibration loading environments. Furthermore, the combined analysis with the armored vehicle model predicted similar lumbar injury risk to the experimental or epidemiologic studies. The preliminary analysis results also showed that road types and travelling velocities have substantial combined effects on lumbar muscle activities, and indicated that intervertebral joint pressure and muscle activity indexes can need to be jointly considered for lumbar injury risk evaluation.
In conclusion, the established neuromuscular model is an effective tool to evaluate vibration loading effects on injury risk of the human body and assist vehicle design vibration comfort by directly concerning the human body injury itself.
Lumbar disc herniation surgery: Is it worth adding interspinous spacer or instrumented fusion with regard to disc excision alone?
2021, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience
Citation Excerpt :
The prevalence of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation is approximately 1 to 3%, mostly affecting people aged 30 to 50 years [1]. Annually, it is estimated that 2.75 of every 1000 people with low back pain will suffer an episode of hospitalization [2]. Surgery is indicated when conservative treatment fails [3].
Discectomy is sometimes associated with recurrence of disc herniation and pain after surgery. The evidence to use an interspinous dynamic stabilization system or instrumented fusion in association with disc excision to prevent pain and re-operation remains controversial. In this study, we analyzed if adding interspinous spacer or fusion, offers advantages in relation to microdiscetomy alone.
Patients with lumbar disc herniation were divided in 3 groups; microdiscectomy alone (MD), microdiscectomy plus interspinous spacer (IS) and open discectomy plus posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). The clinical efficacy was measured using the Owestry Disability Index (ODI). Other outcome parameters including visual analogue scale for pain (VAS) back and legs, length of stay, direct in-hospital cost, 90-day complication rate, and 1-year re-operation rate were also evaluated.
A total of 103 patients whose mean age was 39.1 (±8.5) years were included. A significant improvement of the ODI and VAS back and legs pain baseline score was detected in the 3 groups. After 1 year, no significant differences in ODI, VAS back and legs pain were found between the 3 groups. There was an increase of 169% of the total direct in- hospital cost in IS group and 287% in PLIF group, in relation to MD (p < 0.001). Length of stay was 86% higher in the IS group and 384% longer in the PLIF group compared to MD (p < 0.001). The 1 year re-operation rates were 5.6%, 10% and 16.2% (p = 0.33). Discectomy seems to be the main responsible for the clinical improvement, without the interspinous spacer or fusion adding any benefit. The addition of interspinous spacer or fusion increased direct in-hospital cost, length of stay, and did not protect against re-operation.

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Original articleIncidence and risk factors of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc or sciatica leading to hospitalization

Abstract

J Chron Dis

Lancet

Epidemiology of lumbar disc lesions in the military in World War II

Am J Epidemiol

An epidemiological study of acute herniated lumbar intervertebral discs

Rheumatol Rehabil

Acute prolapsed intervertebral disc. An epidemiologic study with special reference to driving automobiles and cigarette smoking

Spine

Correlation of ruptured lumbar risk with occupation

Clin Orthop

The role of trauma in disc protrusion

N Z Med J

Rheumatism in Populations

Epidemiology and public health impact of high blood pressure in Finland (in Finnish with English summary)

The Social Insurance Institution's coronary heart disease study. Baseline data and 5-year mortality experience

Acta Med Scand

World health. Appendix VIII

Social Strata of the Finnish Society (in Finnish)

Validity of hospital discharge data in a prospective epidemiological study on stroke and myocardial infarction

Acta Med Scand

Original article
Incidence and risk factors of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc or sciatica leading to hospitalization