Sleep disturbances predict long-term changes in low back pain among Finnish firefighters: 13-year follow-up study

Purpose To investigate the prevalence of low back pain among Finnish firefighters and to examine whether sleep disturbances predict membership of low back pain trajectories. Methods In this prospective study, 360 actively working firefighters responded to a questionnaire in 1996, 1999 and 2009. The outcome variables were radiating and local low back pain during the preceding year. Using logistic regression modeling, the likelihood of membership of pain trajectories was predicted by sleep disturbances at baseline. Results During the 13-year follow-up, the prevalence of radiating low back pain increased from 16 to 29 % ( p