Risk factors for back pain incidence in industry: a prospective study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between physical and psychological risk factors on the one hand, and the occurrence of new episodes of back pain on the other hand. A prospective study was conducted with 12 months follow-up by means of self-administered questionnaires. The study took place in the Cargo Department of a major Dutch airline company. The subjects for this study were 270 workers involved in heavy physical work. Only workers without back pain at baseline were included. Self-reported back pain and sick leave due to back pain during the follow-up period were measured. Of the 238 workers included in the analysis, 73 (31%) developed a new episode of back pain during the follow-up period, and 27 (11%) subjects reported sick leave due to back pain. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the history of back pain was the best predictor for the occurrence of a new episode of back pain during follow-up (OR 9.8; 95% CI 2.8-34.4 for subjects who had back pain more than twice in the past year). Low job satisfaction was also associated with an increased risk for the occurrence of back pain during follow-up (OR 1.2; 95% CI 1.01-1.4). Riding a forklift truck appeared to be a protective factor for the occurrence of back pain (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-0.99). In this study the best predictors for the occurrence of back pain were the history of back complaints and low job satisfaction. Although it needs to be confirmed by future intervention studies, the results indicate that increasing job satisfaction may be a successful (co-)intervention for the prevention of back pain at the workplace.

Impact of repetitive manual materials handling and psychosocial work factors on the future prevalence of chronic low-back pain among construction workers

“…The results were similar in the entire cohort and in the subgroup without chronic low-back pain in the baseline survey, except for differences regarding age, laying 3DF lime sandstones, and time pressure. The findings are consistent with previous findings according to which a history of low-back pain (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31) proved to be important, whereas height, weight, and probably smoking habits were not associated with back disorders in occupational populations (32).…”

Comment to “Adult back health: retainment and work-related predicting factors in a 5-year perspective” by T. Reigo et al

“…The absence of back problems over the study period was found to be significantly less common among those with previous history of back pain. This is in accordance with previous studies in which a history of back pain has been found to be an important predictive factor for future back problems and sick leave [3,18].…”

“…The risk was higher among women. Van Poppel et al studied the relationship between physical and psychological risk factors and the episodes of new back pain among workers managing heavy physical loads over a 12-month period [18]. Although none of the factors reached high predictive values, the best were a history of back complaints and low job satisfaction.…”

Patient transfers and assistive devices: prospective cohort study on the risk for occupational back injury among healthcare workers

“…In spite of this, both previous back injury and >30 days with back pain during the previous year were associated with an increased risk of back injury during follow-up with OR of 1.56 and 1.60, respectively. This shows that even when recurrence is very low, prevention of recurrence or secondary low back pain is important in the return-to-work process for injured workers (8,31).…”