| Title: | The modifier effect of physical activity, body mass index, and age on the association of metformin and chronic back pain: A cross-sectional analysis of 21,899 participants from the UK Biobank |
| Journal: | PLOS ONE |
| Published: | 28 Feb 2023 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36854023/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282205 |
| URL: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282205&type=printable |
Publication 11139
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence of the anti-inflammatory effect of the anti-diabetic drug metformin and its use to reduce pain. However, we currently lack studies investigating whether metformin is associated with a reduction in chronic back pain prevalence when considering physical activity levels, body mass index (BMI), and age.</p>
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether use of metformin is associated with lower levels of reporting of chronic back pain in a large cohort with type 2 diabetes when stratified for physical activity, BMI, and age.</p>
METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 21,889 participants with type 2 diabetes who were drawn from the UK Biobank database. We investigated whether people using metformin reported a higher prevalence of chronic low back pain than those who did not. Type 2 diabetes, chronic back pain, and metformin were self-reported. Participants were stratified according to their physical activity level (low, moderate and high), BMI (normal, overweight, and obese), and age (40 to <50; 50 to < 60; and ≥60 years). Logistic regression models were built for each physical activity level, BMI and age category to investigate the prevalence of chronic back pain amongst those using and not using metformin.</p>
RESULTS: Participants who were using metformin and who had low levels of physical activity [OR 0.87, 95%CI 0.78 to 0.96] or who were obese [OR 0.90, 95%CI 0.86 to 0.98] or older [OR 0.85, 95%CI 0.78 to 0.93] had lower odds of reporting chronic back pain than their counterparts.</p>
CONCLUSION: The anti-diabetic drug metformin might reduce prevalence of chronic low back pain in people who are older, overweight, or less active. These findings should be confirmed in studies using a longitudinal design.</p>
5 Authors
- Ana Paula Carvalho-e-Silva
- Paulo H. Ferreira
- Alison R. Harmer
- Jan Hartvigsen
- Manuela L. Ferreira
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