Low back pain is the leading worldwide cause of years lost to disability and its burden is growing alongside the increasing and ageing population. Because these population shifts are more rapid in low-income and middle-income countries, where adequate resources to address the problem might not exist, the effects will probably be more extreme in these regions. Most low back pain is unrelated to specific identifiable spinal abnormalities, and our Viewpoint, the third paper in this LancetSeries, is a call for action on this global problem of low back pain.
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Buchbinder R, et al.; Lancet Low Back Pain Series Working Group. Lancet. 2018 Mar 20. pii: S0140-6736(18)30488-4. [Epub ahead of print] Read more in Physiopedia about Specific Low Back Pain, CBT approach to Chronic Low Back Pain, Inactivity and Low back pain and Low Back Pain and Pregnancy
Neck Pain
Out of all 291 conditions studied in the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study, neck pain ranked 4th highest in terms of disability and 21st in terms of overall burden.