Premature menopause and low back pain. A population-based study.

The association between premature menopause and low back pain was examined among 5325 women surveyed in the second National Health and Nutrition Examination survey. Nearly 49% of the women were postmenopausal. In a multiple logistic regression model that included age, postmenopausal women were approximately twice as likely to report low back pain compared to premenopausal women (odds ratio = 2.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.4-3.0). Among postmenopausal women, significant positive trends in low back pain were observed with decreasing age at menopause (P = 0.005) and increasing years since menopause (P = 0.004). The prevalence odds ratio for women who had their menopause before the age of 30 was 3.2 (1.8-5.4); and for women who had their menopause for 15 or more years the odds ratio was 3.0 (1.7-5.3). These findings suggest that premature menopause is associated with low back pain. Further studies appear warranted to confirm these findings, assess possible explanations, and examine the circumstances in which premature menopause occurs.