Physical Workload and Ergonomic Factors Associated With Prevalence of Back and Neck Pain in Urban Transit Operators

Abstract

The results support the hypothesis of a causal role of physical workload for the development of back and neck pain. Ergonomic factors partially mediated the risk of back and neck pain associated with driving, suggesting a potential for prevention of back and neck pain by ergonomic redesign of transit vehicles. Elevated risks for back and neck pain for female drivers were not explained by anthropometric and ergonomic factors.

Incidence and Risk Factors for Thoracic Spine Pain in the Working Population: The French Pays de la Loire Study

“…This finding agrees with those of a large survey of bus drivers in San Francisco (23) and the high prevalence of TSP among drivers. In our study, TSP was probably more often related to postural constraints of the upper back than to whole-body vibration, since exposure to whole-body vibrations of sufficient energy to damage the thoracic spine is low in modern cars and buses.…”

Psychosocial job factors associated with back and neck pain in public transit operators

“…It included current and past exposure, and the physical work load varied considerably among the employees. In additional analyses of the same data, not only was physical work load related to back or neck pain, but there was a clear dose-response relationship between physical work load and the prevalence of back or neck pain, even after adjustment for age, gender, body height, weight, vehicle type, and ergonomic factors (13). In the present investigation of psychosocial workplace factors, the same adjustments for demographic and anthropometric variables and vehicle type were made, plus adjustment for physical work load (measured by duration of driving years and hours).…”

“…If nonlinear relationships were found, the variables were recoded as categorical. In the case of driving years, a nonlinear relationship was modeled with a linear and a quadratic term in the regression model, yielding a good fit of the model with the data (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, chi-square with 8 degrees of freedom = 7.79, P = 0.45) (13). Logistic regression was used for all the multivariate analyses.…”

The demographic and contextual correlates of work‐related repetitive strain injuries among canadian men and women

“…Also lower extremity MSK complaints are higher among women as well [Messing et al, 2008;Messing et al, 2009]. However, less consistent is research examining back complaints, where some studies indicate increased prevalence for women [Krause et al, 1997;de Zwart et al, 1997], while others report increased prevalence for men [Leino-Arjas, 1998;Hooftman et al, 2009].…”

“…Also lower extremity MSK complaints are higher among women as well [Messing et al, 2008;Messing et al, 2009]. However, less consistent is research examining back complaints, where some studies indicate increased prevalence for women [Krause et al, 1997;de Zwart et al, 1997], while others report increased prevalence for men [Leino-Arjas, 1998;Hooftman et al, 2009].Supporting the notion that work exposures are a major contributing factor for gender differences, some studies examining exposure differences tend to find that MSK complaints are not significantly different when comparing men and women in the same occupational categories or performing the same tasks [Silverstein et al, 1987;Coury et al, 2002; European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2003]. However, a review of specific exposures and MSK complaints suggests certain vulnerabilities for both men and women [Hooftman et al, 2004].…”