Association of proximity to greenspaces and back pain in older men and women: Analysis of data from two cohort studies

Background: Access to greenspace (eg, parks) may improve aspects of physical and mental health that are known biopsychosocial contributors to back pain. However, little is known about the association between access to greenspace and back pain. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis used data from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) and the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) to investigate the association of proximity to greenspace with back pain among community-dwelling older adults living in Portland, Oregon, USA. Geospatial software characterized proximity to greenspace (distance from residential address to nearest park) into three categories thought to be relevant for walkability among older adults: <0.125, 0.125–0.5, and >0.5 mile. We estimated the crude prevalence of any back pain (yes/no) during the past year by proximity-to-greenspace categories and their association as gender-specific prevalence ratios (aPRs) using log-binomial regression models adjusted for age, race, education, and neighborhood socioeconomic status. Results: Participants were 1839 SOF women (mean age = 74.6 years, SD = 5.3) and 422 MrOS men (mean age = 73.7 years, SD = 5.8). Living >0.5 mile from a park, compared to living <0.125 mile, was associated with a greater prevalence of back pain among women (crude prevalence: 71.1% vs. 61.6%, aPR = 1.15 [1.02–1.29]) but not men (64.2% vs. 76.4%, aPR = 0.82 [0.66–1.02]). Sensitivity analyses that used more severe back pain phenotypes provided heterogenous results. Conclusion: In this cross-sectional study, living near a park was associated with a modestly lower prevalence of back pain for women but not men. Large prospective studies are needed to further evaluate whether living close to parks, or other greenspaces, is associated with back pain in older adults.