The relationship between low back pain and professional driving in young military recruits

Abstract

BackgroundEpisodes of low back pain (LBP) are very common among workers. A number of occupational risk factors have been shown to increase the risk for LBP. One of these risk factors is exposure to whole body vibration, which is a known characteristic in driving professions. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of driving on LBP amongst young professional drivers.MethodsThis is an historical-prospective cohort study based on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) database of male soldiers drafted between the years 1997–2006. Subjects’ medical history with specific reference to LBP medical history, clinical and radiographic findings were taken as part of the recruitment process to the IDF. The study group included subjects (n = 80,599) from three occupational groups: administrative units (AU), car drivers (CD) and truck drivers (TD) that were followed for 3 years. The incidence and recrudescence rates of LBP were calculated based on standardized LBP severity tiers.ResultsThe total incidence rate for LBP was 0.65%, 0.7% and 0.34% for AU, CD and TD respectively. In a comparison between subjects without a history of LBP (category 1) to subjects with a history of LBP without clinical findings (category 2) and subjects with a history of LBP with mild clinical / radiographic findings (category 3), the relative risk (RR) for severe LBP exacerbation was 1.4 (p < 0.001) and 3.8 (p < 0.01), respectively. The LBP exacerbation rates within different severity tiers yielded a similar trend amongst all profession groups.ConclusionsThis study included 80,000 soldiers who represent a population of driving and administrative occupations aged 18–21. The significant risk factors for developing LBP were a previous history of LBP and presence of LBP symptoms at the start of work. A correlation was identified between severity of LBP at the initial examination and further exacerbation of LBP in all examined occupations. Driving as a profession in our (young) age-group was not identified as a risk factor for LBP.

Risk factors for episodes of back pain in emerging adults. A systematic review

“…A total of 11,346 studies appeared in the searches and 49 were included in this systematic review (Figure ) with over 125,000 study participants followed‐up. Ten studies (Harkness, Macfarlane, Nahit, Silman, & McBeth, ; Mikkonen et al, , , , ; Mitchell et al, ; Nemoto et al, , ; Power, Frank, Hertzman, Schierhout, & Li, ; Smith, Russell, & Hodges, ) reported risk factors for first episode of back pain, two reported risk factors for a new episode (Mostardi, Noe, Kovacik, & Porterfield, ; Videman, Ojajarvi, Riihimaki, & Troup, ) and 30 reported risk factors for a mixture of participants with first episode and a new episode of back pain (Adams, Mannion, & Dolan, ; Auvinen et al, ; Baranto, Hellstrom, Cederlund, Nyman, & Sward, ; Cholewicki et al, ; Claeys et al, ; Coenen et al, ; Feyer et al, ; Greene, Cholewicki, Galloway, Nguyen, & Radebold, ; Hestbaek, Korsholm, Leboeuf‐Yde, & Kyvik, ; Hestbaek Leboeuf‐Yde, & Kyvik, , ; Hestbaek, Leboeuf‐Yde, Kyvik, & Manniche, ; Kanchanomai, Janwantanakul, Pensri, & Jiamjarasrangsi, ; Kato et al, ; Kroner‐Herwig, Gorbunova, & Maas, ; Lake, Power, & Cole, ; Lallukka et al, ; Lunde, Koch, Hanvold, Waersted, & Veiersted, ; Lundin, Hellstrom, Nilsson, & Sward, ; Mannion, Dolan, & Adams, ; Monnier, Djupsjöbacka, Larsson, Norman, & Äng, ; Nadler, Wu, Galski, & Feinberg, ; Ogon et al, ; Poussa et al, ; Roy & Lopez, ; Salminen, Erkintalo, Laine, & Pentti, ; Salminen, Erkintalo, Pentti, Oksanen, & Kormano, ; Silfies, Cholewicki, Reeves, & Greene, ; Van Nieuwenhuyse et al, ; Zack, Levin, Krakov, Finestone, & Moshe, ). Seven studies did not report the status of new or first episode of back pain (Brady et al, ; Cheung, ; Hayes, Smith, & Taylor, ; Hertzberg, ; Klaber Moffett, Hughes, & Griffiths, ; Lee et al, ; Rosenhagen, Nieder...…”

“…The population sources included health care workers ( n = 4 studies; Adams et al, ; Mannion et al, ; Mostardi et al, ; Van Nieuwenhuyse et al, ), athletes or university students ( n = 18; Baranto et al, ; Cheung, ; Cholewicki et al, ; Claeys et al, ; Feyer et al, ; Greene et al, ; Hayes et al, ; Kanchanomai et al, ; Kato et al, ; Klaber Moffett et al, ; Lee et al, ; Lunde et al, ; Lundin et al, ; Mitchell et al, ; Nadler et al, ; Rosenhagen et al, ; Silfies et al, ; Videman et al, ) and population cohorts ( n = 15), such as the British and Northern Finland Birth Cohorts (Auvinen et al, ; Brady et al, ; Coenen et al, ; Hestbaek et al, , ; Hestbaek, Leboeuf‐Yde, & Kyvik, ; Hestbaek et al, ; Lake et al, ; Lallukka et al, ; Mikkonen et al, , , , ; Power et al, ; Smith et al, ). Five studies included participants from government‐funded schools (Hertzberg, ; Ogon et al, ; Poussa et al, ; Salminen et al, , ), and five studies included soldiers or military personnel (Monnier et al, ; Nemoto et al, , ; Roy & Lopez, ; Zack et al, ; Table ). One study investigated participants from different work sites (Harkness et al, ), and another used a prospective cohort from a paediatric pain study (Kroner‐Herwig et al, ).…”

“…The reported prevalence of back pain varied between 4% and 71% at the follow‐up time point. According to mean age and follow‐up time as shown in Table , 19 studies measured the risk factors in adolescence with the outcome back pain in emerging and young adulthood (Auvinen et al, ; Coenen et al, ; Hertzberg, ; Hestbaek et al, , ; Hestbaek et al, , ; Lee et al, ; Lunde et al, ; Lundin et al, ; Mikkonen et al, , , , ; Ogon et al, ; Poussa et al, ; Rosenhagen et al, ; Salminen et al, , ), 19 studies measured both the risk factors and back pain in emerging and young adulthood (Adams et al, ; Cheung, ; Cholewicki et al, ; Claeys et al, ; Feyer et al, ; Greene et al, ; Harkness et al, ; Hayes et al, ; Kanchanomai et al, ; Klaber Moffett et al, ; Mannion et al, ; Mitchell et al, ; Monnier et al, ; Mostardi et al, ; Roy & Lopez, ; Silfies et al, ; Smith & Leggat, ; Van Nieuwenhuyse et al, ; Zack et al, ) and nine studies measured risk factors in emerging adulthood and back pain in adulthood (Baranto et al, ; Brady et al, ; Kroner‐Herwig et al, ; Lake et al, ; Lallukka et al, ; Nemoto et al, , ; Power et al, ; Videman et al, ; two studies did not report the exact age span (Kato et al, ; Nadler et al, )).…”

“…Positive association: n = 1 (Zack 2018) Positive association: n = 9 (Adams 1999, Feyer 2000, Greene 2001, Hestbaek 2006Is comorbidity…, Kroner-Herwig 2017, Mikkonen 2013,Monnier 2016, Roy 2013, Videman 2005…”

“…emerging and young adulthood (Adams et al, 1999;Cheung, 2010;Cholewicki et al, 2005;Claeys et al, 2015;Feyer et al, 2000;Greene et al, 2001;Harkness et al, 2003;Hayes et al, 2014;Kanchanomai et al, 2015;Klaber Moffett et al, 1993;Mannion et al, 1996;Mitchell et al, 2010;Monnier et al, 2016;Mostardi et al, 1992;Roy & Lopez, 2013;Silfies et al, 2007;Smith & Leggat, 2007;Van Nieuwenhuyse et al, 2009;Zack et al, 2018) and nine studies measured risk factors in emerging adulthood and back pain in adulthood (Baranto et al, 2009;Brady et al, 2016;Kroner-Herwig et al, 2017;Lake et al, 2000;Lallukka et al, 2017;Nemoto et al, 2013Nemoto et al, , 2012Power et al, 2001;Videman et al, 2005; two studies did not report the exact age span (Kato et al, 2017;Nadler et al, 1998)).…”