The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of low-back pain (LBP) and to identify the level of functional disability in elderly individuals in different populations. From January 1985 to October 2018, a search was performed using the following databases: Embase, LILACS, SciELO, Scopus, Medline, and the Web of Science. The descriptors were low-back pain, back pain, lower-back pain, prevalence, and elderly in Portuguese and English. Two independent reviewers conducted a search for studies and evaluated their methodological quality. The search strategy returned 2186 titles, and 35 were included in this review. The studies evaluated 135,059 elderly individuals aged between 60 and 102 years, and the prevalence of LBP ranged from 21% to 75%. The levels of functional disability, as well as functional difficulties, activities of daily living, and physical capacity, were identified in 60% of the studies. This review indicated a high prevalence of LBP in elderly individuals and functional disability that affects factors important for independence. However, the studies used different methodologies, suggesting that more studies be conducted with scientific accuracy, methodological quality, and low risk of bias to contribute to the proposal of preventive actions for elderly populations.

To investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and associated factors in the older adult Amazonia Brazilian community, a cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate 700 participants that were ≥60 years old. Pain intensity and functional disability were assessed using the Numerical Pain Scale and the Roland Morris Questionnaire, respectively, and their sociodemographic, clinical, and behavior variables were collected, i.e., age, sex, education level, socioeconomic level, anthropometric measurements, physical activity, health perception, and emotional state. The punctual prevalence rates of LBP were 42.4% (95% CI: 38.2–46.6%), and for the last 365 days, these prevalence rates were 93.7% (95% CI: 91.3–95.6%), the mean pain and functional disability scores were 6.17 ± 2.13 and 11.30 ± 6.07, and the moderate-to-severe disability was 39.7%. Pain and functional disability were associated with sex, chronic diseases, body mass index (BMI), physical activity level, health perception, and emotional level. In conclusion, the prevalence of LBP was high (for both punctual and the last 365 days), but the variables associated with being female, fewer years of schooling, sedentary behavior, diseases related to diet and the cardiovascular system, and impaired emotional levels had a higher level LBP, even though they considered themselves in good health. These findings can aid with coordinated efforts from government and health professionals to help manage and promote the prevention of LBP by considering the older adult population’s needs in the state of Amazonas.

RESUMO A fibromialgia (FM) é uma condição de alta prevalência e que causa desconforto físico, sofrimento mental e comprometimento nas relações sociais. Assim, o autocuidado pode ser um aspecto determinante para melhorar a qualidade de vida de indivíduos com FM, pois está relacionado ao ato de se investir de poder. Portanto, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o agenciamento do autocuidado de indivíduos com FM e verificar a associação do autocuidado com variáveis sociodemográficas, sintomas e qualidade de vida. Participaram do estudo 40 indivíduos com FM, que preencheram os critérios diagnósticos do Colégio Americano de Reumatologia de 2010. O autocuidado foi avaliado pela Escala de Avaliação de Agenciamento de Autocuidados Revisada (EAAA-R), a intensidade da dor dos pacientes foi verificada pela Escala Visual Analógica (EVA) e pelo Índice de Dor Generalizada (IDG), enquanto a severidade dos sintomas foi avaliado pela Escala de Severidade dos Sintomas (SS) e a qualidade de vida pelo Questionário de Impacto da Fibromialgia Revisado (QIF-R). Utilizamos o coeficiente de correlação de Pearson (dados paramétricos) e coeficiente de correlação de Spearman (dados não paramétricos), com nível de significância α<0,05. Os resultados mostram valores médios para o agenciamento do autocuidado (52,75±10,25), intensidade da dor (5,84±2,16), IDG (13,32±3,78), SS (9,30±1,68), e QIF-R (63,98±17,26). Houve associação do autocuidado com a classe social (r=0,391) e associação com domínios do QIF-R: função (r=-0,338), impacto geral (r=-0,315), sintomas (r=-0,332) e escore total (r=-0,375). O estudo sugere moderado agenciamento de autocuidado e fraca associação do autocuidado com a qualidade de vida e com a classe social em indivíduos com fibromialgia.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the most frequent complaint in clinical practice. Electroacupuncture treatment may be effective; however, the supporting evidence is still limited, especially in older adults.Objective: The current study is a randomized controlled trial that aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture in older adults with LBP.Methods: A five-arm randomized controlled trial with patients and evaluators blinded to the group allocation. A total of 125 participants with non-specific LBP will be randomly assigned into one of five groups: three electroacupuncture groups (low, high, and alternating frequency); one control group; and one placebo group. The electroacupuncture will be applied twice a week (30 min per session) for five weeks. The primary clinical outcome measure will be pain intensity. The secondary outcomes include: quality of pain; physical functioning; perceived overall effect; emotional functionality; patient satisfaction; and psychosocial factors. Patients will be evaluated before the first session, immediately after the last, and followed up after six and 12 months to check the medium- and long-term effects.Discussion: Although electroacupuncture is increasingly used to treat LBP, there is no guidance regarding the parameters used, which leads to inconsistent results. Thus, the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on LBP remains controversial and requires more studies, especially in the older adult population.Conclusion: This is the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of different frequencies of electroacupuncture for treating chronic LBP in older adults. This study will provide evidence on the effectiveness of electroacupuncture as an alternative treatment method for LBP and will entail wider debate about an appropriate acupuncture intervention in this population.Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov,NCT03802045. Registered on 14 January 2019.

This Cross-sectional study with 516 elderly individuals aimed to measure the prevalence of Low Back Pain (LBP) at different periods and identify associated factors in the elderly population from Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro. A questionnaire on the prevalence of LBP was applied, covering three periods: at the time of the interview, in the last year, and at some point in life, with sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, and occupational variables in addition, the Numerical Pain Scale and the Roland Morris questionnaire. The significance level established was 5 %. The prevalence of LBP was high at the time of the interview, 52.1 % (95 % CI 0.467‒0.575), 93 % in the last year (95 % CI 0.899‒0.954), and 77.4 % at some point in life (95 % CI 0.710‒0.800). The intensity of pain and functional incapacity were considered moderate. The LBP was associated with lower body mass index, female sex, high blood pressure, greater functional disability and perception of regular health. More active elderly people had less LBP, while the white race had a higher prevalence, and emotional problems had impacted severely at the time of the interview. Diabetes mellitus and being widowed were associated with a greater prevalence of LBP at some point in life. Greater functional disability worsened LBP at the time of the interview, while lower disability increased the prevalence of LBP at some point in life. Greater pain intensity was associated to higher LBP in the last year. The findings indicate a high prevalence of LBP in different periods associated with sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral factors.

The purpose of this study was to identify social and clinical factors associated with levels of functional disability (FD) in older adults with low back pain (LBP) in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. A cross-sectional study of 557 adults with LBP aged ≥60 years was completed. Sociodemographic and clinical features, pain intensity (Numeric Rating Scale), FD (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire), physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short version), body mass index, educational level, health perception, emotional level, and self-reported diseases were evaluated. Statistical analysis was used to verify the association between quantitative variables and a group; Student t test or Mann-Whitney test, and analysis of variance (normality assumption) or Kruskal-Wallis test (non-parametric), P value of less than .05. There were 81.3% female participants, 54.9% self-reported their race and/or skin color as brown, and 37.8% were sedentary. Pain intensity scores were 6.26 ± 2.19 in female participants and 5.82 ± 1.84 in male participants. Mean FD scores were 11.68 ± 6.08 for female participants and 9.61 ± 5.76 for males participants, although 39.7% of the total group presented with severe disability (score ≥14) and FD was associated with female sex (P = .001), physical activity (P≤ 0.001), body mass index (P≤ .001), emotional level (P < .001), and health perception (P < .001). In this group of older adults with LBP, FD was associated with female sex, level of physical activity, body mass index, emotional level, and health perception. Many factors that were identified with FD are modifiable; therefore, interventions, such as nutrition education and re-conceptualization of self-emotional and health perception, may have potential to help in preventing and reducing FD.