Back pain is a common medical problem and the cause of disability worldwide - it significantly impairs work performance and the overall quality of life. It affects people of all ages. Back pain is a huge economic burden not only for the individuals and their families, as well as being a society-wide economic burden. The study Global Burden of Disease 2010 ranked back pain in the first position of 291 chronic diseases causing disability in the YLD parameters (years of life survived with the disability). It is very difficult to estimate the incidence of back pain among the population, as the first episodes occur early on in adulthood and later return with increasing age. The prevalence of back pain in western Europe is 15%, the highest being in the 35-55 year-old population. 60-70% of people experience severe back pain at least once in their life. Seeing as the population ages and most back pain problems have a degenerative cause, it is possible to predict an increase in the occurrence of back pain in the future generations. The risk factors for the development of back pain include: age, female gender, heavy work-load, smoking, and being overweight.
