Epidemiology of spinal stenosis.

Although spinal stenosis has been recognized for nearly 190 years, no exact definition has yet been agreed on, a fact that has made incidence and prevalence studies all but impossible to interpret. The age at onset clearly correlates with the underlying pathomechanics. The disease appears to affect more men than women, except for degenerative spondylolisthesis, which affects more women. Occupation and somatotype do not appear to correlate with the development of symptomatic spinal stenosis. Although they are statistically more likely to have a smaller canal diameter, the black population does not seem to have a high incidence of symptomatic stenosis. Finally, although many syndromes have been reported to be associated with the development of spinal stenosis, the concomitant presence of degenerative changes appears to be a prerequisite to the development of symptomatic spinal stenosis.