| Title |
The Prevalence of low back pain in Africa: a systematic review
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, November 2007
|
| DOI | 10.1186/1471-2474-8-105 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Quinette A Louw, Linzette D Morris, Karen Grimmer-Somers |
| Abstract |
Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition and one the most common causes of disability in the developed nations. Anecdotally, there is a general assumption that LBP prevalence in Africa is comparatively lower than in developed countries. The aim of this review was to systematically appraise the published prevalence studies conducted on the African continent to establish the prevalence of LBP in Africa. A comprehensive search was conducted in April 2006. The following databases PEDro, Psychinfo, Science Direct, SportsDiscus, PubMed, CINAHL, Biblioline Pro-African Wide NiPAD and SA ePublications were individually searched using specifically developed search strategies for epidemiological research conducted on LBP amongst the African population. Two reviewers independently evaluated the methodological quality of the studies reviewed. A total of 27 eligible epidemiological studies were included in this review. The majority of the studies (63%) were conducted in South Africa (37%) and Nigeria (26%). The most common population group involved workers (48%), while scholars comprised 15% of the population. 67% of the studies were found to be methodologically sound, and the LBP prevalence of these were analyzed. The mean LBP point prevalence among the adolescents was 12% and among adults was 32%. The average one year prevalence of LBP among adolescents was 33% and among adults was 50%. The average lifetime prevalence of LBP among the adolescents was 36% and among adults was 62%. The findings support the global burden of disease of LBP, in addition to suggesting that LBP prevalence among Africans is rising and is of concern. Further research into the most effective strategies to prevent and manage LBP in Africa is warranted. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 | 33% |
| United States | 1 | 33% |
| Unknown | 1 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 33% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 33% |
| Scientists | 1 | 33% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 661 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2 | <1% |
| South Africa | 2 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| Indonesia | 1 | <1% |
| Norway | 1 | <1% |
| Portugal | 1 | <1% |
| New Zealand | 1 | <1% |
| Ghana | 1 | <1% |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 3 | <1% |
| Unknown | 646 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 109 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 101 | 15% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 61 | 9% |
| Researcher | 55 | 8% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 50 | 8% |
| Other | 131 | 20% |
| Unknown | 154 | 23% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 233 | 35% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 97 | 15% |
| Sports and Recreations | 32 | 5% |
| Social Sciences | 23 | 3% |
| Engineering | 19 | 3% |
| Other | 85 | 13% |
| Unknown | 172 | 26% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 April 2018.
All research outputs
#13,484,975
of 22,896,955 outputs
Outputs from BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
#1,916
of 4,059 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#64,198
of 76,921 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
#6
of 10 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,896,955 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
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