Chronic back problems and labor force participation in a national population survey: impact of comorbid arthritis

Table 2 Prevalence and distribution of socio-demographic characteristics among working-age individuals (ages 25–64) back problems, arthritis and back problems, reporting arthritis, and any other chronic conditions; 2007/2008 Canadian community health survey

	No chronic condition	Back problem	Back problem + Arthritis	Arthritis	Other chronic condition(s)
Estimated number of individuals (1,000)	8,401	2,927	1,061	1,328	4,511
Prevalence (%)	46.1	16.1	5.8	7.3	24.8
Sex (%)
Male	54.0	51.1	41.4	40.4	45.2
Female	46.0	48.9	58.6	59.6	54.8
Age (%)
25-34	31.9	22.8	5.5	6.5	21.3
35-44	29.9	29.2	17.1	14.5	24.7
45-54	25.2	29.3	35.2	33.0	28.4
55-64	13.0	18.8	42.1	46.0	25.7
Education (%)
< Secondary grad	8.6	11.5	20.9	16.9	11.7
Secondary grad	16.0	15.0	17.0	17.1	16.2
Some post-secondary	6.0	7.6	7.0	7.3	7.3
Post-secondary grad	69.4	65.9	55.1	58.7	64.9
BMI (%)
Underweight/normal	52.7	45.1	37.1	36.3	42.3
Overweight	34.5	35.5	35.1	37.0	34.9
Obese	12.8	19.4	27.8	26.7	22.8
Living arrangement (%)
Single, with or without others	17.2	17.5	21.9	18.8	18.2
Living with partner/spouse	22.8	25.5	35.2	36.4	28.3
Living with children	47.7	45.9	34.7	34.7	42.5
Other	12.3	11.2	8.2	10.1	11.0
Smoking (%)
Never	22.7	29.1	24.2	29.1	33.0
Current	36.7	29.5	33.8	25.4	24.7
Former	40.6	41.3	42.0	45.6	42.3
Alcohol (%)
Nondrinker	69.5	15.8	23.9	20.2	18.2
Regular	14.2	68.9	55.2	61.8	64.6
Occasional	16.4	15.3	20.9	18.0	17.2
Physical activity (%)
Active	25.2	22.0	20.3	20.7	20.8
Moderately active	25.0	24.8	21.8	24.6	26.6
Inactive	49.8	53.2	58.0	54.7	52.6
Work status (%)
In labor force	89.8	84.7	64.2	73.9	82.0
Not currently employed	9.7	11.6	21.2	20.7	14.7
Out of the labor force	0.5	3.7	14.6	5.4	3.3