Association Between Excessive Weight Gain During Pregnancy and Persistent Low Back and Pelvic Pain After Delivery

Study Design. Retrospective study. Objective. To investigate the association between gestational weight gain (GWG) during pregnancy and persistent low back and pelvic pain (LBPP) after delivery. Summary of Background Data. Persistent LBPP after delivery is a risk factor for developing depression and chronic pain as well as incurring sick leave. Women experience weight gain during pregnancy. Excessive weight gain places a greater burden on the musculoskeletal system. However, little is known about how GWG is associated with LBPP after delivery. Methods. After Ethics Committee approval, we analyzed 330 women at 4 months after delivery who had LBPP during pregnancy. The exclusion criteria were as follows: specific low back pain, multiple birth, and incomplete data. Four months after delivery, LBPP was assessed using a self-report questionnaire. Persistent LBPP was defined as pain at 4 months after delivery with an onset during pregnancy or within 3 weeks after delivery. GWG was calculated as the difference between the pregnancy weight and the prepregnancy weight, which we categorized into three groups:
Source: Spine - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: EPIDEMIOLOGY Source Type: research