Chronic low back pain was linked to some poorer thinking scores
Adults with chronic low back pain scored worse on several cognitive tests than pain-free adults. Evidence certainty was mostly very low, and some abilities showed no clear difference.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Adults with chronic low back pain had slightly poorer overall cognitive performance than pain-free controls, based on low-certainty evidence. Differences also appeared in memory, executive function, motor skills and processing speed, but those findings were very uncertain. The review does not establish that chronic low back pain caused these differences or explain their origins.
Certainty was low for overall cognition and very low for other abilities. Abstract-only access cannot establish how these test differences affected daily activities.
Separate abilities, separate findings
The researchers pooled results for different cognitive abilities separately. Poorer scores appeared in overall cognition, memory, executive function, motor skills and processing speed, but certainty differed across those outcomes.
Unclear differences remain uncertain
Attention, language and perception showed no statistically significant differences between the groups. This leaves uncertainty about those abilities: a nonsignificant result does not demonstrate identical performance in adults with and without chronic low back pain.
The original publication
Chronic low back pain is associated with compromised cognitive function: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Sobott N, Crowther ME, Vincent GE et al.
J Pain · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40562264
- Record checked
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