Pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain and low back pain in an Iranian population

Study Design. A cross-sectional study in pregnancy. Objectives. To differentiate between pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain ( PGP) and low back pain ( LBP) in Iranian women, and investigate the prevalence of each syndrome. Summary of Background Data. Most of the information about PGP and LBP has been obtained in Western countries. There are few studies to investigate pregnancy related lumbopelvic pain, and, especially, differentiate between PGP and LBP in non-Western countries, particularly in the Middle East. Methods. This study included 325 pregnant women, ranging in age from 16 to 42 years. All pregnant women were interviewed using a questionnaire. Two trained physical therapists performed the posterior pelvic pain provocation test on all women with lumbopelvic pain. Results. A total of 161 pregnant women ( 49.5%) had reported lumbopelvic pain at the time of the examination. Based on the posterior pelvic pain provocation test, 91 women ( 28%) had PGP, 43 ( 13.2%) had LBP, and 27 ( 8.3%) had both PGP and LBP simultaneously. The intensity of pain in women with lumbopelvic pain using the visual analog scale was 5.6 ( standard deviation 2.0; range 2 - 10). Conclusions. About 1 in every 2 pregnant women studied experienced lumbopelvic pain at the time of the examination. In this study, PGP was almost 2 times more common than LBP. The high prevalence of PGP suggests that this symptom is a significant health problem in Iranian pregnant women, and needs more attention by Iranian health professionals and researchers.