Low back pain, smoking and employment during pregnancy and after delivery - a 3-month follow-up study

Low back pain (LBP.), smoking and employment was studied among 111 consecutive women admitted to a maternity ward over a 6-week period, 40 were primiparas and 71 multiparas. LBP was defined as any pain in the low back, irrespective of the specific cause of the pain. Two specially constructed questionnaires were utilised. The first was a, 14-item questionnaire which all participants answered before leaving the maternity ward. It included questions on employment and smoking and self-rating Visual Analogue Scales used for rating LBP. LBP was rated during the pregnancy and 3 days after delivery. The second questionnaire was used in a 90-day follow-up interview. The mean age of participants was 28 years. The prevalence of LBP during pregnancy was 58.5% among the 111 participants. Of the 111, 75% continued to have LBP postpartum and at the 90-day post-delivery follow-up, 54% of those with LBP during pregnancy were still experiencing LBP. Previous births and birth weight were not found to correlate positively with LBP. LBP during pregnancy did not affect the length of employment during pregnancy. Smokers had LBP more frequently during pregnancy and also after (P <0.002). It is concluded that smoking does seem to contribute to LBP during and after pregnancy. Birth weight does not affect LBP and LBP does not affect the length of employment during pregnancy.