Exploring the impact of low back pain in Parkinson’s disease

Background Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neuro-degenerative disorder, involving a motor and non-motor symptom, which significantly affects quality of life and function. Low back pain is one of the non-motor symptoms of the individuals with Parkinson’s disease and is increasingly being identified. Parkinson’s disease patients’ development leads to abnormal pain perception, axial stiffness, postural issues, limitation of spinal movement, and musculoskeletal pathology. Low back pain in people with Parkinson’s disease is clinically relevant, but there is little knowledge about its prevalence, cause, impact, and assessment. Objective The goal of the current literature was to thoroughly map and integrate the current data on the prevalence, pathophysiological reasons, clinical characteristics, evaluation methods, functional effects, rehabilitation options, and research needs related to low back pain in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Methods The guidelines of PRISMA-ScR were followed to report the current review, conducted according to the guidelines recommended by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). A full search review was performed in PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library from April 2025 to March 2026. Studies published between January 2005 and December 2025 and matching the eligibility criteria was reviewed for inclusion. Parkinson’s disease and Low Back Pain were among the MeSH terms/keywords used in the search. Results 546 records were extracted from the database. Following duplication removal and title/abstract screening, 60 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. 12 papers met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final synthesis.The review included 12 articles, seven cross-sectional studies, two case-control, one observational analytical study, one narrative review, and one systematic review of patients with Parkinson’s disease. Reported prevalence of low back pain ranged from 40% to 88%. Based on the data presented in the literature, it can be concluded that LBP associated with PD is multifactorial and the examination demonstrated that there were wide variations in the definitions of pain, methods of assessment, outcome measures and evidence of rehabilitation, indicating a need for standardised assessment protocols and longitudinal studies. Conclusion Low back pain is one of the common non-motor symptoms of PD, which significantly affects patients’ functionality and their quality of life. Available evidence supports the role of regular identification and evaluation of low back pain in Parkinson’s disease. No data are available on specific rehabilitation strategies, however, suggesting the necessity for well-designed rehabilitation trials. Clinical trial registration Not applicable. OSF registration https://osf.io/tz75j .