Parent-offspring association of chronic back pain and the role of physical activity : family-linkage data from the HUNT-study

Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) is an increasing health problem in the western society, and knowledge on the accumulation within families is still uncertain. The main objective of this study was to investigate the association of CMP in the spinal region between parents and their adult offspring, specifically in the neck, shoulder and low back. Additionally the possible modifying role of physical activity (PA) on this association was examined. Data from the population based HUNT study in Norway provided 11247 subjects. Logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results showed a moderate increase in OR among all groups, maternal influence ranging from 1.36 (95%CI=1.27 – 1.46) to 1.44 (95% CI = 1.34 – 1.54), and paternal influence from 1.22 (95%CI=1.13 – 1.33) to 1.43 (95%CI=1.28 – 1.59). When stratified on offspring PA a trend was observed showing inactive subjects with a slightly higher OR of back pain than the active subjects, but this difference was not statistically significant. In conclusion there appears to be an association between parental and offspring CMP in the spinal region, and the modifying effect of PA is still uncertain