Y. Xu et al., WORK-ENVIRONMENT AND LOW-BACK-PAIN - THE INFLUENCE OF OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITIES, Occupational and environmental medicine, 54(10), 1997, pp. 741-745
Objectives-To find associations between the prevalence of low back pai
n and occupational activities. Methods-Interviews of a random sample o
f 5185 19-59 year old Danish employees analysed by logistic regression
. Results-Increased risks of low back pain were found for ''vibration
affecting the whole body'' (odds ratio (OR)=1.28), ''physically hard w
ork'' (OR=1.28), ''frequently twisting or bending'' (OR=1.71), ''stand
ing up'' (OR=1.20), and ''concentration demands'' (OR=1.28). In the an
alysis of dose-response relations between low back pain and the risk f
actors, the one year period prevalence increased with increasing expos
ure time during a working day to each of the risk factors. The prevale
nce proportion ratio for those reporting to be exposed for most of the
working time were 1.30 for vibrations affecting the whole body, 1.54
for physically hard work, 1.48 for frequently twisting or bending, 1.2
9 for standing up, and 1.13 for concentration demands. These associati
ons seemed to be stronger in the subset of subjects who worked for 37
hours or more per week. The population attributable fractions were 15.
1% for frequently twisting or bending, 15.0% for standing up, 7.6% for
concentration demands, and 4.4% for physically hard work. Conclusion-
Vibrations affecting the whole body, physically hard work, frequently
twisting or bending, standing up, and concentration demands proved to
be risk factors for the occurrence of low back pain, even after contro
lling for age, sex, educational level, and duration of employment in a
specific occupation.