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Table 1 Participant characteristics and prevalence of MRI findings in LBP and no-LBP groups including test for group difference. The MRI findings are based on the worst score at any lumbar level (L1-L5)

From: An exploratory study of different definitions and thresholds for lumbar disc degeneration assessed by MRI and their associations with low back pain using data from a cohort study of a general population

41 Years

Characteristics

Total

n = 412

LBP Year

n = 284 (68.93%)

No LBP Year

n = 128 (31.07%)

P-Value

Sex

 Men n (%)

199 (48.30)

134 (47.18)

65 (50.78)

0.499

 Women n (%)

213 (51.70)

150 (52.82)

63 (49.22)

 

BMI Mean (SD)

25.05 (4.25)

25.24 (4.28)

24.63 (4.19)

0.176

MRI Findings

 Signal Intensity (worst lumbar level)

  Grade 0 n (%)

4 (0.97)

3 (1.06)

1 (0.78)

 

  Grade 1 n (%)

51 (12.38)

28 (9.86)

23 (17.97)

 

  Grade 2 n (%)

171 (41.50)

105 (36.97)

66 (51.56)

 

  Grade 3 n (%)

186 (45.15)

148 (52.11)

38 (29.69)

0.000*a

 Disc Height (worst lumbar level)

  Grade 0 n (%)

90 (21.84)

56 (19.72)

34 (26.56)

 

  Grade 1 n (%)

103 (25.00)

57 (20.07)

46 (35.94)

 

  Grade 2 n (%)

207 (50.24)

161 (56.69)

46 (35.94)

 

  Grade 3 n (%)

12 (2.91)

10 (3.52)

2 (1.56)

0.000*a

45 Years

Characteristics

Total

n = 348

LBP Year

n = 238 (68.39%)

No LBP Year

n = 110 (31.61%)

P-Value

Sex

 Men n (%)

161 (46.26)

109 (45.80)

52 (47.27)

0.798

 Women n (%)

187 (53.74)

129 (54.20)

58 (52.73)

 

BMI Mean (SD)

25.16 (4.05)

25.43 (4.23)

24.57 (3.60)

0.051

MRI Findings

 Signal Intensity (worst lumbar level)

  Grade 0 n (%)

0

0

0

 

  Grade 1 n (%)

52 (15.12)

28 (11.81)

24 (22.43)

 

  Grade 2 n (%)

121 (35.17)

89 (37.55)

32 (29.91)

 

  Grade 3 n (%)

171 (49.71)

120 (50.63)

51 (47.66)

0.033*b

 Disc Height (worst lumbar level)

  Grade 0 n (%)

107 (31.10)

73 (30.80)

34 (31.78)

 

  Grade 1 n (%)

69 (20.06)

48 (20.25)

21 (19.63)

 

  Grade 2 n (%)

154 (44.77)

109 (45.99)

45 (42.06)

 

  Grade 3 n (%)

14 (4.07)

7 (2.95)

7 (6.54)

0.458a

49 Years

Characteristics

Total

n = 293

LBP Year

n = 204 (69.62%)

No LBP Year

n = 89 (30.38%)

P-Value

Sex

 Men n (%)

136 (46.42)

85 (41.67)

51 (57.30)

0.014*

 Women n (%)

157 (53.58)

119 (58.33)

38 (42.70)

 

BMI Mean (SD)

27.28 (17.84)

28.19 (21.21)

25.21 (3.44)

0.054

MRI Findings

 Signal Intensity (worst lumbar level)

  Grade 0 n (%)

0

0

0

 

  Grade 1 n (%)

31 (10.88)

15 (7.54)

16 (18.60)

 

  Grade 2 n (%)

154 (54.04)

109 (54.77)

45 (52.33)

 

  Grade 3 n (%)

100 (35.09)

75 (37.69)

25 (29.07)

0.017*b

 Disc Height (worst lumbar level)

  Grade 0 n (%)

44 (15.44)

23 (11.56)

21 (24.42)

 

  Grade 1 n (%)

52 (18.25)

36 (18.09)

16 (18.60)

 

  Grade 2 n (%)

160 (56.14)

120 (60.30)

40 (46.51)

 

  Grade 3 n (%)

29 (10.18)

20 (10.05)

9 (10.47)

0.037*b

  1. * = Statistically significant difference between LBP and no-LBP groups (P-value < 0.05)
  2. a = P-value was obtained using Fischer’s exact test
  3. b = P-value was obtained using Pearson’s chi2 test