Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is known to affect both older and younger adults. Medical schools tend to have time-consuming curricula, possibly perpetuating a sedentary lifestyle, and a high prevalence of LBP among medical students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of sedentary lifestyle and the 12-month prevalence of LBP in a sample group of medical students in comparison to a random sample of physical education students. A retrospective study involving a questionnaire-based inquiry of 103 medical students showed that they were approximately 2.5 times less physically active than the 107 physical education students (p < 0.001) and spent 3 more hours per day sitting (p < 0.001). The 12-month prevalence of (sub)acute and chronic LBP in the sample group of medical students was 53.4% (95% CI : 43.8%-63.0%), as compared to 60.7% (95% CI : 51.4%-70.0%) in the sample group of physical education students, yielding no statistically significant difference (p = 0.329). These data reveal a high prevalence of low back pain among students, which is rather alarming considering their young age. Strangely, the prevalence of LBP was not higher in medical students than in physically more active students, in spite of their sedentary lifestyle. According to the literature, the sitting position is no longer considered as a risk factor for low back pain.