Disclosures: Shawn M. McGargill, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: Among patients with back pain, coexistence of additional painful joints is common. The objective of this research was to determine the impact of concurrent back, neck, knee and hip pain on functional outcomes.
Design: Data from the multicenter, observational population-based Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) study were used. Setting : Academic medical center. Participants : Men and women aged 45-79 years (N=4,771; 61.1±9.1yrs; 28.6±4.8 kg/m2 and 58.5% female) were grouped by presence or not of joint pain: no pain, Back Pain, Back+Neck pain, Back+Neck+Knee pain and Back+Neck+Knee+Hip pain.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures: : Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome score (KOOS; quality of life and function-sports-and-recreation subcores); Medical Outcomes Short Form-12 (SF12) physical component score, self-reported function in last 7-30 days (lifting 25lb objects, housework), 20meter and 400meter walk times, repeated chair rise test time and falls within the last 12 months.
Results: The addition of progressively more pain sites to BP worsened KOOS quality of life and function-sports-and-recreation scores by 7.4%-34.7% (p < .0001). SF-12 Physical Component scores were highest in the no pain group and lowest in the Back+Neck+Knee+Hip pain group (52.3±7.3 points versus 39.9±10.9 points; p < .0001). The 20meter and 400meter walk times increased with number of painful joints: 20meter [15.0±2.4s no pain to 17.3±3.8s Back+Neck+Knee+Hip pain; p < .0001] and 400meter [296±47s no pain to 339±81s Back+Neck+Knee+Hip pain; p < .0001]. Moreover, the number of rest stops during the 400meter walk was highest in the Back+Neck+Knee+Hip pain group (p=.023). Repeated chair rise time increased by 5.4%-29.0% with additional pain sites to the back (p < .0001). During the preceding year, more pain sites was associated with increased fall frequency and repeated falls (p < .0001). Conclusions: Clinicians should consider the significant functional burden of patients with concurrent back and multisite pain to maximize treatment pathways, prevent falls and help patients attain highest quality of life possible.
Level of Evidence: Level I
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
McGargill SM, Sein M, Vincent HK. Functional Consequence of Coexisting Painful Joints Among Individuals with Back Pain: Insight from the Osteoarthritis Initiative [abstract]. PM R. 2020; 12(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/functional-consequence-of-coexisting-painful-joints-among-individuals-with-back-pain-insight-from-the-osteoarthritis-initiative/. Accessed May 16, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2020
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/functional-consequence-of-coexisting-painful-joints-among-individuals-with-back-pain-insight-from-the-osteoarthritis-initiative/