Occupational back disability in US Army personnel

Musculoskeletal disorders represent a prevalent source of outpatient visits , lost work time, hospitalization, and disability in the military. Recent r esearch has identified patterns among military occupations, gender, and mus culoskeletal disability. Although back disorders accounted for a high perce ntage of all cases, little is known about the relationship between job type and disability in soldiers. The present study analyzed 41,750 disability c ases to determine (1) prevalence of work-related back disability diagnoses, (2) specific jobs associated with greater risk of back disability, and (3) association among gender, job type, and disability. The results indicate t hat (1) lumbosacral strain and intervertebral disc syndrome represent the m ost prevalent diagnoses for back disability, (2) certain occupations were a ssociated with higher back disability risk, and (3) specific jobs were iden tified in which females experienced higher rates of back disability than ma les. The nature of these high-risk jobs, and recent research on work disabi lity factors in U.S. Army soldiers, suggest that a combination of ergonomic and individual/organizational psychosocial factors may play a role in the development, exacerbation, and maintenance of work disability, Future resea rch that identifies specific job factors contributing to increased back dis ability risk should assist in the development of empirically based work sit e prevention programs to improve musculoskeletal health and readiness.