I keep hearing about how so many adults will have back pain sometime in their lives. I think the latest numbers I saw showed eight out of 10 Americans will be affected. Is this just an American deal or is it a human trait? I know my question isn’t about a personal health problem, so if you can’t answer it, I understand.

Back pain continues to be a major health problem around the world — one that costs the health care system a great deal of money. Researchers have confirmed over and over the statistic you quoted — 80 per cent of adults in developed countries (like the United States) experience a short, limited episode of back pain.

A recent study from Germany reported two-thirds of the adults surveyed in the general population said they had back pain at least once in the last 90 days. Although this particular study didn’t delve into all the whys of back pain, many other scientists have explored what’s behind this phenomenon.

Stress seems to come up as an all-important key. Worry, overwork, lack of satisfaction with life, dissatisfaction with work all tally up as factors in the development of nonspecific (mechanical) low back pain. Nonspecific, mechanical low back pain refers to the fact that it’s not caused by a fracture, infection, or tumor. The exact cause may remain unknown but the pain is likely generated by some joint or soft tissue structure.

The psychosocial aspect of low back pain is probably a result of both being American and human but as this German study showed, it’s not just Americans who are affected.