ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1605072
This article is part of the Research TopicNavigating Environmental Hazards in the Workplace: Impacts and InterventionsView all 16 articles
Global Trends in Low Back Pain and Neck Pain in the Working Population: Implications for Occupational Health
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
- 2Center for Reproductive Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
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This study systematically evaluated the global burden of low back pain (LBP) and neck pain (NP) among individuals aged 20-65 from 1990 to 2021, utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database. We analyzed incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), and agestandardized rates across 204 countries and regions, stratified by socio-demographic index (SDI).Key findings indicate a slight decline in LBP metrics but a mild increase in NP trends, with higher growth rates observed in females. Socioeconomic status significantly influenced these patterns, with developed countries showing lower YLDs increasing rate. The study highlights the need for genderspecific and region-tailored public health strategies, particularly focusing on women in lower SDI countries. These findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions to mitigate the growing burden of LBP and NP in an aging workforce increasingly engaged in office work.
Keywords: Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Global Burden Database, Occupacional health, BAPC analysis
Received: 03 Apr 2025; Accepted: 20 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Wang, Zhao and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yingang Zhang, Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China
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