ABSTRACT
Musculoskeletal complaints in the elderly have physical, functional and psychological consequences. The problem of low back pain had been studied from different aspects. This study aimed at obtaining a cross sectional view of chronic low back pain among elderly living in elderly homes in Cairo. First a pilot study was performed in which time tools had been designed in the forum of a questionnaire, which had been applied on a sample of tell individuals and according to their response time structured interview for the definitive study was designed. After that the modified questionnaire was applied to 25 individuals to test time validity and reliability of the questionnaire. Test retest reliability by percent of agreement of items testing the low back pain, ranged from 80 to 100 and the general reliability was 97.6. Construct validity was established by showing the questions to consultants of neurology, orthopedics and physiotherapy to assure that the questions contained in the questionnaire cure suitable and sufficient for the assessment. The definitive study was performed among 60 elderly participants [60 years and over] recruited from different elderly homes in different geographical areas in Cairo. Each participant answered the interview than was subjected to complete clinical examination with special consideration to body mass index, neurological examination and functional assessment. 43.3% of participants reported a history of recurrent attacks of low back. Most of the patients described pain as moderate or severe. Studying the relation between low back pain and body mass index [BMI] revealed that participants suffering from low back pain have higher mean BMI [31.6 +/- 6.2] then others [29 +/- 6.5] but the difference was not statistically significant [P = 0.1]. The mean age of participants suffering from low back pain was lower than others with no statistically significant difference [P = 0.5]. Low hack pain was significantly more common among females [P = 0.01]. 38.5% reported that during the attack they suffered from impairment in one or more items of daily activities. On examination 42.3% had muscle spasm. 50% did not show any neurological abnormality as regards muscle weakness, reflexes and sensory impairment. The prevalence of low back pain among Egyptian elderly living in elderly homes is 43.3%. Females significantly suffer from low back pain more than males. No statistically significant relation between low back pain and age or body mass index could be confirmed. 38.5% reported functional impairment during time attack. The most common sign present on examination was spasm in time back muscles