Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20007994›Full record

SynthesisAmerican journal of epidemiology2010

The association between obesity and low back pain: a meta-analysis.

Rahman Shiri, Jaro Karppinen, Päivi Leino-Arjas, Svetlana Solovieva, Eira Viikari-Juntura

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in American journal of epidemiology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07731256 (A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Semaglutide for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Obesity), which is not on this map. Cited by 318 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
318citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07731256 phase2not yet recruitingstarted 2027, after this paper: background citation

A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Semaglutide for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Obesity

Ran2027Enrolled250Registered outcomes13Posted comparisons0ConditionsChronic Lower Back Pain, glp1 Agonist, Lower Back Pain, Obesity (BMI>30)ArmsPlacebo (administered by PDS290 pen-injector), Semaglutide (administered by PDS290 pen-injector)
PMID 39476339PMID 37385275PMID 37351564PMID 27537761PMID 28192789PMID 29573870PMID 31797139PMID 32125402PMID 32520773PMID 34051018PMID 35507483PMID 35606809other papers from this trial
Open the trial in the graph
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

318 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Paraspinal muscle quality in chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of muscle atrophy and fat infiltration.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026
    Pooled it
  5. Association between pain intensity and body composition in adults with chronic non-specific low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
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  9. Waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, body fat rate, total body fat mass and risk of low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022
    Pooled it
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  13. Reduction mammoplasty and back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2020
    Pooled it
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258 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Rahman ShiriCentre of Expertise for Health and Work Ability, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health,Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, Helsinki, Finland. rahman.shiri@ttl.fi
Jaro Karppinen
Päivi Leino-Arjas
Svetlana Solovieva
Eira Viikari-Juntura

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This meta-analysis assessed the association between overweight/obesity and low back pain. The authors systematically searched the Medline (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland) and Embase (Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) databases until May 2009. Ninety-five studies were reviewed and 33 included in the meta-analyses. In cross-sectional studies, obesity was associated with increased prevalence of low back pain in the past 12 months (pooled odds ratio (OR) = 1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 1.54), seeking care for low back pain (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.46, 1.67), and chronic low back pain (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.28, 1.60). Compared with non-overweight people, overweight people had a higher prevalence of low back pain but a lower prevalence of low back pain compared with obese people. In cohort studies, only obesity was associated with increased incidence of low back pain for > or =1 day in the past 12 months (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.22, 1.92). Results remained consistent after adjusting for publication bias and limiting the analyses to studies that controlled for potential confounders. Findings indicate that overweight and obesity increase the risk of low back pain. Overweight and obesity have the strongest association with seeking care for low back pain and chronic low back pain.

Indexed as

Cohort StudiesCross-Sectional StudiesHumansLow Back PainObesityPrevalenceRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID20007994

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.