APLAR Journal of Rheumatology 2006; 9: 257–263 ©Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology Blackwell Publishing Asia ORIGINAL ARTICLE Disability, depression and somatization in a low back pain population Disability, depression and somatization in a low back pain population Abdulbari BENER, 1,2 Omer F. EL-RUFAIE, 3 Saadat KAMRAN, 4 Ana B. GEORGIEVSKI, 5 Abdulaziz FAROOQ 1 and Martin RYSAVY 6 1 Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad General Hospital & Hamad Medical Corporation, and University of Qatar, Doha, State of Qatar, 2 Department Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, UAE, and Departments of 4 Neurology, 5 Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and 6 Orthopaedics, Hamad General Hospital and Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, State of Qatar Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a primary care setting population and examine its association with the symptoms of depression and somatization. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, utilising a survey carried out in primary health care clinics (PHCs) in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A multistage stratified sampling design was used and a representative sample of 1304 UAE nationals aged 18–65 years who attended PHC clinics for any reason were included and 1103 (84.5%) subjects agreed to participate and responded to the questionnaire during a period from June 2001 to January 2002. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for the data collection: socio-demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland-Morris scale for evalu- ating back-related functional disability and SCL-90 R for depression and somatization subscales was used to assess depressive and somatic symptoms. Results: Of the total number of subjects surveyed (1103), 586 (53.1%) were men and 517 (46.9%) women. The mean age was 34.9 ± 13.4 years for men and 33.5 ± 11.8 years for women. The prevalence of LBP in the studied subjects was 64.7% (95% CI, 60.7–68.5] with 46.7% among men and 53.3% among women. There were a significant differences between the subjects with LBP and without LBP with respect to gender (P < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001), occupational status (P < 0.001) and living environment (P = 0.016). Functional disability was higher in patients with LBP. Young patients in aged 15–34 years, patients with preparatory/secondary educational level and students showed higher depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in patients with somatic symptoms. Factor analysis revealed a strong association between depression and somatization in LBP patients. Conclusions: Functional disability was higher in with LBP. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and soma- tization are prevalent among LBP patients. Key words: low back pain, prevalence, impairments of body functions, activity, limitation, depression, soma- tization, primary health care, UAE. INTRODUCTION Low back pain (LBP), is one of the most common complaints encountered in primary health care clinics (PHCs). 1 LBP may be due to mechanical, inflammatory, Correspondence: Professor Dr Abdulbari Bener, Advisor to WHO, Consultant & Head, Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Weill Cornel Medical College in Qatar, PO Box 3050, Doha, State of Qatar. Email: abener@hmc.org.qa; Email: abener@uaeu.ac.ae