Raspe Heiner, Hueppe Angelika, Neuhauser Hannelore
Institute for Social Medicine, University of Luebeck, D Luebeck, Germany.
Int J Epidemiol. 2008 Feb;37(1):69-74. doi: 10.1093/ije/dym220. Epub 2007 Nov 17.
Back pain (BP) is a frequent disorder affecting currently up to 40% of adults in Western Europe. Most of it is said to be 'non-specific', i.e. lacking an obvious patho-anatomical explanation. It is seldom the consequence of a contagious disease caused by microorganisms. This does not exclude it from being communicable if 'communicable' is to refer to something being transmitted by sharing or exchanging information.
To propose the hypothesis of BP being a communicable disease.
We base our hypothesis on a reanalysis of five German health surveys. They show a wide gap in BP prevalence between West and East Germany early after reunification. The gap consistently decreased to nearly zero in 2003. Work disability data followed a comparable course.
Various processes may have contributed to the observed changes. Our hypothesis is corroborated by experimental research showing that BP-related beliefs, attitudes and behaviour could positively be influenced by media campaigns and by insights from another recent epidemic.
背痛（BP）是一种常见疾病，目前在西欧影响着多达40%的成年人。据说其中大部分是“非特异性的”，即缺乏明显的病理解剖学解释。它很少是由微生物引起的传染病的后果。如果“可传播的”是指通过共享或交换信息进行传播的事物，那么这并不排除背痛具有传染性。
提出背痛是一种传染病的假说。
我们的假说基于对五项德国健康调查的重新分析。这些调查显示，统一后不久，德国西部和东部的背痛患病率存在很大差距。到2003年，这一差距持续缩小至几乎为零。工作残疾数据也呈现出类似的趋势。
各种过程可能导致了观察到的变化。实验研究表明，与背痛相关的信念、态度和行为会受到媒体宣传活动以及近期另一场流行病的启示的积极影响，这证实了我们的假说。
