Low back pain and headache as important aspects of chronic pain in primary health care in a community of the brazilian amazon region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2317-0190.v15i2a102921Keywords:
Low Back Pain, Headache, Epidemiology, Prevalence, Primary Health CareAbstract
Pain has been described as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. In primary care health system, chronic pain reaches high levels of prevalence, mainly due to low back pain and headaches. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of chronic pain in the primary healthcare system in the town of Buriticupu, located in the state of Maranhao, northeastern Brazil. Chronic pain disorders were the most prevalent medical diagnosis in the investigated sample, being found in 539 patients (23.02%). Musculoskeletal pain disorders were the most important etiology of the chronic pain, affecting 250 patients (10.62%), and among the musculoskeletal pain disorders, low back pain was the most prevalent one, observed in 120 (5.12%) patients. Headaches were the second most common cause of chronic pain, diagnosed in 212 (9.05%) patients. Thus, 61.6% of the chronic pain disorders were due to low back pain and headaches. The univariate statistical analysis demonstrated an association between female gender and headaches, between advanced age and all groups of chronic pain (musculoskeletal, low back pain and headaches), and between body mass index and musculoskeletal and low back pain. When the multivariate regression analysis was performed, the correlations between gender and age remained unaltered, maintaining the same patterns of association. However, body mass index no longer showed an association with any chronic pain disorder.
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