BACK PAIN AMONG WORKERS IN THE UNITED-STATES - NATIONAL ESTIMATES ANDWORKERS AT HIGH-RISK

Back pain accounts for about one fourth of workers' compensation claim s in the United States. The Occupational Health Supplement to the 1988 National Health Interview Survey provided an opportunity to assess th e scope of this problem. The 30,074 respondents who worked in the 12 m onths before the interview were defined as ''workers'', and those with back pain every day for a week or more during that period were define d as ''cases.'' A weighting factor was applied to the answers to deriv e national estimates. In 1988, about 22.4 million back pain cases (pre valence 12.6%) were responsible for 149.1 million lost workdays; 65% o f cases were attributable to occupational activities. For back pain at tributed to activities at work, the risk was highest for construction laborers among males (prevalence 22.6%) and nursing aides among female s (18.8%). Our analyses show that back pain is a major cause of morbid ity and lost production for U.S. workers and identifies previously unr ecognized high risk occupations, such as carpenters, automobile mechan ics, maids, janitors, and hairdressers, for future research and preven tion. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.