Elsevier

Pain Management Nursing

Volume 23, Issue 6, December 2022, Pages 776-783
Pain Management Nursing

Original Article
Associations Between Allergies, Walking, Sedentary Time, and Low Back Pain

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2022.06.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To examine associations between allergies, low back pain (LBP), walking, and sedentary time in a representative sample of adults aged 50 years and older.

Design

A cross-sectional, correlational study.

Methods

We used the 2014-2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Allergies of interest included allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis. Adequate walking was defined as walking five or more days per week. Sedentary time was categorized as <7 h vs. ≥7 h. Logistic regression was performed to examine the association between allergies and LBP, controlling for demographics and lifestyle. Subgroup analyses were conducted to investigate the role of walking and sedentary lifestyle in LBP among those with or without allergies.

Results

Of 4,897 respondents, 23.1% reported LBP. After controlling for covariates, individuals with allergies were 1.68 times more likely to have LBP than those without allergies. In the non-allergy group, those with inadequate walking and sedentary lifestyles were nearly twice as likely to report LBP than those with adequate walking and without sedentary lifestyles. However, this trend was not observed in the patients with allergy diagnoses.

Conclusions

We confirmed associations between lifetime allergy diagnosis and LBP. A protective role of physical activity and non-sedentary lifestyle in LBP remained only among those without allergies.

Clinical Implications

Nurses should emphasize the impact of allergies on LBP. The advantages of walking and non-sedentary lifestyles for preventing or relieving chronic conditions should be routinely included in patient education; however, their preventive role in LBP should be underscored for those without allergies.

Section snippets

Design

This study used a cross-sectional, correlational study design.

Data Source

This study employed data from the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted between 2014 and 2015, which is the latest KNHANES data available to examine our study's aims. The KNHANES is a nationwide, community-based, cross-sectional survey conducted periodically by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the health and nutritional status of the non-institutionalized

Sample Characteristics

Table 1 depicts the sample characteristics based on the LBP status. Of the 4,897 respondents, 23.1% (n = 1,136) reported LBP. Most participants were identified as female (57.5%), received middle school or lower education (59.3%), lived in an urban area (75.9%), were in the lower-income tier (55.7%), were married (98.7%), and had 2+ person households (85.3%). Those with LBP tended to be female (p < .001) and belonged to the lower income tier (p < .001) and one-person households (p < .001), with

Discussion

Our findings from a nationally representative adult sample in South Korea showed that a lifetime allergy diagnosis was significantly correlated with LBP in the past 3 months. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report a discrepancy regarding the association between sedentary time and walking and LBP, depending on lifetime allergy status. This study highlights the necessity of tailoring strategies for individuals with allergic diagnoses to reduce low-grade systemic

Conclusions

Respondents with LBP tended to be primarily female, had lower income, obtained middle school or less education, and had prior allergy-related disease diagnosis who walked less and sat longer than their non-LBP counterparts. We found that respondents with a lifetime allergic diagnosis of asthma, allergic rhinitis, or atopic dermatitis were more likely to experience LBP than respondents without an allergic diagnosis. These results demonstrate a vital role of allergy-related disease diagnosis

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We thank Geumjin Jung, Jiwon Han, Taekyeong Lee, Yeji Lee, and Sihyun Oh for their comments and edits on an earlier draft of this paper.

References (38)

  • A. Citko et al.

    Sedentary lifestyle and nonspecific low back pain in medical personnel in North-East Poland

    BioMed Research International

    (2018)
  • J.L. Dieleman et al.

    US health care spending by payer and health condition, 1996-2016

    JAMA

    (2020)
  • T. Giesecke et al.

    Evidence of augmented central pain processing in idiopathic chronic low back pain

    Arthritis and Rheumatism

    (2004)
  • J. Ha et al.

    Ten-year trends and prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis among the Korean population, 2008-2017

    Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics

    (2020)
  • M.A. Hofmann et al.

    Role of IL-17 in atopy-A systematic review

    Clinical and Translational Allergy

    (2021)
  • E.L. Hurwitz et al.

    Cross-sectional associations of asthma, hay fever, and other allergies with major depression and low-back pain among adults aged 20-39 years in the United States

    American Journal of Epidemiology

    (1999)
  • M.M. Husky et al.

    Chronic back pain and its association with quality of life in a large French population survey

    Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

    (2018)
  • D. Im et al.

    Prevalence of allergic disease in Korean adults: results from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010–2012)

    Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

    (2017)
  • H.E. Jeong et al.

    Association between rheumatoid arthritis and respiratory allergic diseases in Korean adults: A propensity score matched case-control study

    International Journal of Rheumatology

    (2018)
  • Cited by (1)

    View full text