Healthy backs in pregnancy: an online survey of women's lived experiences of pregnancy-related low back and/or pelvic girdle pain.

Background. Low back and pelvic girdle pain are largely considered normal, common complaints in pregnancy. However, associated leg pain is not well understood and requires further exploration. Purpose. To investigate the incidence of pregnancy-related low back and pelvic girdle pain and associated symptoms. Study design. An online cross-sectional questionnaire. Methods. The design was exploratory and the sample was retrospective. An online questionnaire was developed using Qualtrics® software and was hosted on a university website and the Doctoral Midwifery Research Society website (doctoralmidwiferysociety.org). Popular mother and baby websites, based on the top internet search results, including Netmums, Mumsnet and Bounty, also advertised the study. Women who had given birth in the past two years were eligible to take part. Data collected included demographics, pain location and associated symptoms. This study was partly funded by The Northern Ireland Translation Research Group for Child Health. It was reviewed and approved under arrangements for Research Governance at Ulster University (Filter Committee Ref: 110111). Results. Of 332 women who consented to participate, 191 fulfilled the eligibility criteria, and 176 submitted their responses. Respondents represented all four UK countries. A total of 157 completed the section on 'history of low back/pelvic girdle pain'; 70% (n=110) had a history of low back and/or pelvic girdle pain lasting for more than one week, while 104 women experienced low back pain (n=49) or a combination of both complaints (n=55). The intensity and the bothersomeness of low back pain was significantly greater than pelvic girdle pain during and for up to two years after pregnancy. More than two-thirds reported leg symptoms. Only six women experienced pelvic girdle pain alone, none of which reported associated leg symptoms. Conclusions. Sixty-four percent (n=101) reported leg symptoms. These findings support current evidence of the consistent presentation of these complaints during pregnancy, and suggest that low back pain alone, or in combination with pelvic girdle pain, is more often associated with lower limb symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the extent of lower limb involvement in pregnant women with these complaints and highlights the need for further investigation into the resultant short and longer term morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]