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Weather not an influential factor on low back pain symptoms
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Acute low back pain is not linked to weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction and precipitation, according to study findings by Australian researchers.
As the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition, the World Health Organization estimates that low back pain affects as much as 33% of the world’s population at any time, and often, individuals point to the weather as a contributing factor.
“Our findings refute previously held beliefs that certain common weather conditions increase risk of lower back pain,” study author Daniel Steffens, of the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, said in a press release. “Further investigation of the influence of weather parameters on symptoms associated with specific diseases such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are needed.”
In a case-crossover study, the researchers enrolled 993 patients seen at primary care clinics in Sydney between October 2011 and November 2012. Using weather data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Steffens and colleagues compared weather at the time patients first noticed back pain with weather conditions 1 week and 1 month before the onset of pain.
Study results showed no association between back pain and temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind direction or precipitation, according to the release.
The only weather changes that showed any alteration in symptoms were higher wind speeds and wind gusts, but these were not statistically significant, according to the researchers.
Reference: Steffens D. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2014;doi:10.1002/acr.22378.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.