Norwegian team at risk of chronic back pain if you walk a lot ↓
Jun 16, 2025
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While the burden of health care due to low back pain is expected to increase as the aging population progresses, studies have shown that walking a lot can significantly reduce the risk of chronic low back pain.
This is the result of a study by Professor Paul Yarlemork of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Network Open).
The research team analyzed data from the Tröndelag Health Survey (HUNT Study) from 2017 to 2019 to 2021 to 2023, in which 11,194 people (average age of 55.3 years) participated.
Participants who did not have back pain at the start of the study were surveyed for back pain for an average of 4.2 years by measuring daily walking time and walking speed with wearable devices. There were 1,659 people (14.8%) who developed chronic low back pain during the study period.
The daily walking time was divided into less than 78 minutes, 78 to 100 minutes, 101 to 124 minutes, and 125 minutes or more, and the walking intensity was divided into less than 3.00 MET (walking speed less than 4km/h), 3.00 to 3.11 MET (4.1 to 5.4km/h), 3.12 to 3.26 MET (5.5 to 6.4km/h), and 3.27 MET (6.4km/h) or more.
Comparisons showed that the 78–100-minute group had a 13% lower risk of chronic back pain, the 101–124-minute group had a 23% lower risk of chronic back pain, and the 125-minute or more group had a 24% lower risk of walking per day compared to the group with less than 78 minutes. In the case of walking intensity, the 3.00 to 3.11 MET group had a 15% lower risk of chronic back pain compared to the group below 3.00 MET per minute, and the 3.12 to 3.26 MET and 3.27 MET or higher groups were 18% lower, respectively.
The research team said walking intensity also affects, but walking 'Yang' was found to be more important in preventing chronic low back pain, and that encouraging walking could help reduce the burden of chronic low back pain.
Meanwhile, previous studies have shown that walking is effective in preventing the recurrence of back pain. According to a clinical trial by a research team at Macquarie University in Australia, if adults with a history of low back pain regularly walk, the period of low back pain not recurred is nearly twice (208 days) longer than when they do not walk (112 days). As a result of the study, people who exercised walking had 28% fewer pain and 43% fewer recurrences requiring treatment.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
