Back complaints in older adults

With the aging of the Dutch population, the number of older aged back pain patients is also expected to increase. However, information on the course and prognosis of older patients with back pain in general practice is very scarce. Back pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder, also in older adults, information about back pain in older adults is therefore important. In addition, because there are several important reasons why back pain in older adults might differ from back pain in the younger adult population, information about younger back pain patients may not be generalizable to older adults. The overall objective of the studies presented in this thesis are therefore to acquire information about back pain in older adults and more specific to gain insight into: 1) the course of back pain in older adults in general practice, 2) the characteristics of these patients and their back pain, 3) prognostic factors for poor recovery of older adults with back pain, 4) the association between perceived lumbar stiffness and lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) as assessed on X-ray, and 5) the medical consumption of back pain patients.

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