March 2007

Study: Pregnant women need expanded musculoskeletal care

Despite the high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain during pregnancy, few women in underserved populations receive treatment for their low back pain, according to a February 2007 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT). 

Moreover, researchers found that pain in a previous pregnancy may predict a high risk for musculoskeletal complaints in future pregnancies.

According to Clayton Skaggs, DC, the study’s chief author, 85 percent of women surveyed reported they had not received treatment for their musculoskeletal pain, and of the small percentage who perceived that their back complaints were addressed, less than 10 percent were satisfied with the symptom relief they obtained.

Researchers surveyed more than 600 women at a clinic that serves predominantly an uninsured, underinsured or Medicaid-insured population. Two-thirds of the women who responded to the survey reported back pain, and nearly half of all women reported pain at two or more locations, including pelvic pain and mid-back pain.

The study also found that close to 80 percent of women who reported sleep disturbances had back pain, whereas only 8 percent of women without pain reported problems sleeping. In addition, three-fourths of the women who reported pain also described use of pain medication.

The study was the result of on-going collaboration between Logan College of Chiropractic and the Department of Obstetrics at Washington University School of Medicine.

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