Rural and Urban: comparison of lumbar pathologies in two British medieval populations

Abstract

The rapid growth of global urbanisation has led to more people adopting urban-related lifestyles, which have been shown to impact human health. This study compares the effects of different lifestyles in two medieval British populations, rural Poulton and urban Gloucester, on the prevalence of lumbar vertebral pathologies. The study used descriptive diagnostic techniques to identify osteoarthritis, spondylosis and Schmorl’s nodes, and applied inferential statistics to compare and analyse the prevalence of each pathology. The analysis revealed that Schmorl’s nodes prevalence differs significantly between males and females in Gloucester but not in Poulton. Gloucester males presented higher frequencies of Schmorl’s nodes than Poulton males, while no significant differences were found for osteoarthritis and spondylosis. The study highlights that the impact of lifestyle on lumbar vertebral health is more complex than previously assumed, as the intertwined influences of the two environments make it difficult to attribute pathological patterns exclusively to a single lifestyle. Further research is recommended to enhance our understanding of the complexities related to urban and rural living and their effects on lumbar spinal pathologies.