WORK ACTIVITIES AND THE ONSET OF 1ST-TIME LOW-BACK-PAIN AMONG NEW-YORK-CITY FIRE FIGHTERS

In a prospective study of first-time low back pain among New York City fire fighters, a total of 115 cases and 109 randomly selected control s were interviewed by telephone between December 1988 and July 1989 to examine the role of recent work activities in the onset of first-time low back pain. After adjusting for known risk factors and off-duty ac tivities, statistically significant high-risk work activities included operating a charged hose inside a building (odds ratio (OR) = 3.26), climbing ladders (OR = 3.18), breaking windows (OR = 4.45), cutting st ructures (OR = 6.47), looking for hidden fires (OR = 4.32), and liftin g objects greater-than-or-equal-to 18 kg (OR = 3.07). Low-risk activit ies included connecting hydrants to pumpers (OR = 0.36), pulling boost er hose (OR = 0.19), and participating in drills (OR = 0.09) or physic al training (OR = 0.16). When further adjusted for exposure to smoke ( OR = 13.59), a surrogate for severity of alarms, the ORs associated wi th high-risk activities were no longer significant. This, however, doe s not diminish the role of activities in the onset of low back pain. I nstead, it suggests an inseparable role for activities and environment al hazards. To examine this, the risk of low back pain was measured wi thin five work zones sequential in time relative to location and dista nce from a structural fire. The risk gradually increased as the fire f ighter moved away from the firehouse (OR = 0.10) and closer to the sit e of fire (OR = 3.91).