Is there an association between diabetes and neck and back pain? An updated systematic review with meta-analyses
Hannah Dale, Daniel Pozzobon, Matthew Fernandez, Rhys Dale, Isabelle Scott, Shadi Khadijeh Gholami, Eric L Hurwitz, Katie de Luca · 2026
Read Is there an association between diabetes and neck and back pain? An updated systematic review with meta-analyses by Hannah Dale, Daniel Pozzobon, Matthew Fernandez, Rhys Dale, Isabelle Scott, Shadi Khadijeh Gholami, Eric L Hurwitz, Katie de Luca (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13227674.txt.
Description
Hannah Dale and co-authors update a review in 2026 on whether diabetes links to neck and back pain. Spine pain burdens patients and health systems heavily. Past work found people with diabetes reported more back and neck pain, yet diabetes did not forecast future pain, a puzzling split.
Four databases were searched for adult studies from 2017 to 2025 across several designs, from one-time surveys to twin studies. Case reports, spine diseases, and pregnancy diabetes were left out. Two reviewers pulled the data on their own, and pooled odds were computed with a model that allows study-to-study spread. An updated pooled answer helps clinicians decide whether a diabetic patient's back pain is part of the disease picture or a separate thread.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Hannah Dale, Daniel Pozzobon, Matthew Fernandez, Rhys Dale, Isabelle Scott, Shadi Khadijeh Gholami, Eric L Hurwitz, Katie de Luca |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 41 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |