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Table 2 Characteristics of men and women by level of dichotomized main exposure variables (PA and BMI)

From: The influence of self-reported leisure time physical activity and the body mass index on recovery from persistent back pain among men and women: a population-based cohort study

  Men Women Internal drop-outcM/W (%)
  All PA a BMI b All PA a BMI b  
Characteristics   Sedentary Active Over weight Normal weight   Sedentary Active Over weight Normal weight  
(n=632) (n=136) (n=496) (n=416) (n=216) (n=1204) (n=295) (n=909) (n=607) (n=597)  
Proportion of study population% 34      66      
Age, mean (SD) 56 (14) 56 (15) 56 (14) 56 (13) 54 (16) 55 (15) 57 (16) 55 (15) 58 (14) 53 (16) 0/0
BMI, mean (SD) 27 (4) 28 (5) 26 (3) 29 (3) 23 (2) 26 (5) 28 (6) 25 (4) 29 (4) 22 (2) 0/0
Overweight% d 66 68 65 - - 50 67 45 - - 0/0
Sedentary leisure time% e 22 - - 22 20 25 - - 33 16 0/0
Daily smoker% 20 27 18 20 19 20 25 19 19 21 0/1
Neck pain every day, last 6 months% 42 53 39 44 39 54 62 52 55 54 1/1
Low socioeconomic class% f 46 50 46 49 42 36 40 35 40 32 4/5
Born outside Sweden% 21 34 18 22 19 21 25 20 22 21 0/1
House work 1 hour or more a day% g 48 36 51 45 53 76 69 79 79 73 2/1
Heavy work% h 22 24 22 25 16 13 16 12 14 12 43/51 j
More than 7 days of sick leave last year% 32 38 31 34 29 46 56 43 52 41 38/48 j
Poor self-rated health% i 65 82 61 68 59 68 81 64 74 61 2/2
  1. a PA: Self-reported regular leisure time physical activity; Sedentary, mostly sedentary or low intensive activity like walking or cycling < 2 hours a week. Active, low intensive activity like walking or cycling ≥ 2 hours a week or perform more intensive activity ≥ 30 minutes each session in ≥ 1 occasion per week.
  2. b BMI: The body mass index; Overweight, BMI ≥ 25. Normal weight, BMI < 25.
  3. c Proportion of missing answers in question describing the characteristic. Men (M) and women (W).
  4. d Overweight: BMI ≥ 25.
  5. e Sedentary leisure time: Mostly sedentary or low intensive activity like walking or cycling < 2 hours a week.
  6. f Low socioeconomic class: Unskilled and semiskilled workers + skilled workers.
  7. g House work: Taking care of the household a normal weekday, for example cleaning, doing the laundry and cooking.
  8. h Heavy work: Physical work load including frequent heavy lifting.
  9. i Fair, poor or very poor self-rated health.
  10. j High proportion of internal dropouts partly due to many participants not working.
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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