Chronic back pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in a control population: prevalence and disability--a 5-year follow-up.

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of chronic back pain and its changes over 5 years in patients with RA compared with community controls and to evaluate the influence of chronic back pain in functional capacity, general pain and global health. Methods. The prevalence of chronic back pain in 1076 patients with RA and in 1491 community controls was evaluated using a mailed questionnaire, which also queried the functional capacity on the HAQ, and general pain and global health on visual analogue scales. Results. Chronic back pain was more frequent in the general population than in patients with RA: 19% of patients with RA and 25% of controls reported chronic back pain (P < 0.001). After …