European Journal of Pain
Volume 15, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 70-76

Back pain in older male Italian-born immigrants in Australia: The importance of socioeconomic factors (Article)

Stanaway F.F. , Blyth F.M. , Cumming R.G. , Naganathan V. , Handelsman D.J. , Waite L.M. , Sambrook P.N. , Creasey H.M. , Seibel M.J. , Le Couteur D.G.
  • a Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia
  • b Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • c Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia, Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • d Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • e ANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • f Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • g Institute of Bone and Joint Research, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • h Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • i ANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia
  • j Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, University of Sydney, Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Back pain is common in older people and is associated with functional disability and poor self-rated health. Older persons are under-represented in back pain research, and research on back pain in older persons from ethnic minorities is particularly sparse. We investigated differences in back pain characteristics, effects and medication use in a population-based sample of 335 Italian-born immigrants and 849 Australian-born men aged 70 years and over. There were 189 (62%) Italian-born men and 507 (63%) Australian-born men who reported experiencing back pain in the past 12 months. Despite no difference in the reported prevalence of back pain between the two groups of men, Italian-born men were more likely to report that their pain was frequent, severe and chronic. Italian-born men were also more likely to report having other sites of pain and that they had limited their activities in the past 12 months due to back pain. Despite these differences, the use of analgesic medication was the same in both groups. Multivariate analyses showed that differences in pain characteristics and effects between the two groups of men were explained by socioeconomic factors such as years of education and occupation history. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters.

Author Keywords

Back pain Italian immigrants socioeconomic Older persons

Index Keywords

immigrant Australia Back Pain backache human aging Ethnic Groups opiate priority journal Aged nonsteroid antiinflammatory agent chronic disease disease duration Humans Severity of Illness Index male Emigrants and Immigrants Aged, 80 and over Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics prevalence Article major clinical study Sex Factors Italy disease severity paracetamol
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-78650745828&doi=10.1016%2fj.ejpain.2010.05.009&partnerID=40&md5=101dd47ba183598bf232b8cb535c05de
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpain.2010.05.009
ISSN: 10903801
Cited by: 8
Original Language: English