Table 1 Characteristics of study participants according to pandemic status

Participants (N)

3,478

2,088

1,390

Age (mean (SD))

54.71 (9.52)

55.80 (8.83)

53.07 (10.26)

 < 0.001

Sex (%)

 < 0.001

 Male

2288 (65.8)

1433 (68.6)

855 (61.5)

 Female

1190 (34.2)

655 (31.4)

535 (38.5)

General health (%)

 < 0.001

 Very good

545 (15.7)

189 (9.1)

356 (25.6)

 Good

1814 (52.2)

1072 (50.8)

754 (54.2)

 Bad

1119 (32.2)

839 (40.2)

280 (20.1)

 Total Health Cost € (mean (SD))

7280.52

(8033.50)

8805.30

(9126.79)

4990.06

(5258.27)

 < 0.001

 Charlons’s Comorbidity Index score – score (mean (SD))

0.80 (1.41)

1.11 (1.58)

0.33 (0.92)

 < 0.001

GCPS (%)

 < 0.001

 1

1471 (42.3)

774 (37.1)

697 (50.1)

 2

867 (24.9)

463 (22.2)

404 (29.1)

 3

622 (17.9)

435 (20.8)

187 (13.5)

 4

518 (14.9)

416 (19.9)

102 (7.3)

Disability due to CLBP (%)

 < 0.001

 Low disability

1197 (34.4)

558 (26.7)

639 (46.0)

 Moderate disability

1135 (32.6)

673 (32.2)

462 (33.2)

 High disability

1146 (32.9)

857 (41.0)

289 (20.8)

Pain intensity due to CLBP (%)

 < 0.001

 Low pain intensity

1619 (46.5)

888 (42.5)

731 (52.6)

 High pain intensity

1859 (53.5)

1200 (57.5)

659 (47.4)

 Amount of ICD-10 M diagnoses (mean (SD))

4.13 (5.68)

5.09 (6.58)

2.68 (3.49)

 < 0.001

  Total Cost of back pain € (mean (SD))

1082.93

(2,292.22)

1374.17

(2,779.35)

645.43

(1107.72)

 < 0.001

 Amount of ICD-10 F diagnoses (mean (SD))

1.42 (4.84)

2.10 (5.92)

0.38 (2.06)

 < 0.001

  PHQ-4 sum score (mean (SD))

2.84 (2.56)

3.00 (2.67)

2.59 (2.36)

 < 0.001

 PHQ-4 subscale depression

1.57 (1.41)

1.64 (1.46)

1.46 (1.32)

 < 0.001

 PHQ-4 subscale anxiety

1.27 (1.37)

1.36 (1.42)

1.13 (1.28)

 < 0.001

Job status (%)

 < 0.001

 Not employed

212 (6.1)

107 (5.1)

105 (7.6)

 Self employed

933 (26.8)

645 (30.9)

288 (20.7)

 Regularly employed

2333 (67.1)

1336 (64.0)

997 (71.7)

Daily sitting time (%)

0.004

 Less than half of the day

688 (19.8)

427 (20.5)

261 (18.8)

 Half of the day

1008 (29.0)

643 (30.8)

365 (26.3)

 At least 3/4 of the day

1166 (33.5)

663 (31.8)

503 (36.2)

 Almost all day

616 (17.7)

355 (17.0)

261 (18.8)

Activity days per week (%)

 < 0.001

 Never

474 (13.6)

325 (15.6)

149 (10.7)

 1 day

691 (19.9)

434 (20.8)

257 (18.5)

 2 days

926 (26.6)

545 (26.1)

381 (27.4)

 3 days

705 (20.3)

421 (20.2)

284 (20.4)

 4 or more days

682 (19.6)

363 (17.4)

319 (22.9)

Duration physical activity (%)

 < 0.001

 Less than 10 min

409 (11.8)

272 (13.0)

137 (9.9)

 10 to 30 min

623 (17.9)

386 (18.5)

237 (17.1)

 30 to 60 min

1446 (41.6)

784 (37.5)

662 (47.6)

 More than 60 min

1000 (28.8)

646 (30.9)

354 (25.5)

Sports per week (%)

0.001

 No sports

576 (16.6)

427 (20.5)

149 (10.7)

 Regularly up to 2 h

1029 (29.6)

614 (29.4)

415 (29.9)

 Regularly up to 4 h

1230 (35.4)

704 (33.7)

526 (37.8)

 Regularly more than 4 h

643 (18.5)

343 (16.4)

300 (21.6)