Prevalence of low back pain, seeking medical care, and lost time due to low back pain among manual material handling workers in the United States

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Jay M. Kapellusch¹  Andrew Merryweather²  Matthew S. Thiese²  Kurt T. Hegmann²  Sue A. Ferguson³  William S. Marras³  Ming-Lun Lu⁴ 

[1] 0000 0001 0695 7223, grid.267468.9, Occupational Science & Technology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, P.O. Box 413, 53201, Milwaukee, WI, USA;0000 0001 2193 0096, grid.223827.e, Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational & Environmental Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, 391 Chipeta Way, Suite C, 84108, Salt Lake City, UT, USA;0000 0001 2285 7943, grid.261331.4, Spine Research Institute, The Ohio State University, 210 Baker Systems, 1971 Neil Avenue, 43210, Columbus, OH, USA;0000 0004 0423 0663, grid.416809.2, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Taft Laboratories, 1090 Tusculum Ave. MS C-24, 45226, Cincinnati, OH, USA;

关键词: Low back pain;    Prevalence;    Seeking medical care;    Lost time;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12891-019-2594-0

来源: publisher

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLow back pain (LBP) is a common and costly problem throughout the United States. To achieve a greater understanding of the occupational risk factors, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) funded a low back health effects consortium, which performed several surveillance studies throughout the United States. This study combines data from the consortium research groups resulting in a data set with nearly 2000 workers in various regions of the country. The purpose of this paper is to examine prevalence and personal risk factors of low back health effects among these workers.MethodsThere were three common questions regarding history of low back health effects in the past 12 months including 1) have you had LBP lasting 7 days, 2) have you sought medical care for LBP, and 3) have you taken time off work due to LBP. The questionnaire included demographic questions. There were five data collections institutions or sites including NIOSH, Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Texas A&M University, and University of Utah.ResultsThe 12-month period prevalence of low back pain lasting 7 days, seeking medical care, and lost time due to LBP were 25, 14 and 10%, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in gender, age or weight between cases and non-cases for any prevalence measure. The height of workers was significantly greater in the cases compared to non-cases for all three prevalence definitions. There were significant differences among the sites on the prevalence of seeking medical care for LBP and lost time due to LBP. The Ohio State University had significantly higher prevalence rates for seeking medical care and lost time due to LBP than University of Wisconsin, University of Utah, or Texas A&M University.ConclusionLBP, the least severe low back health effect studied, had the highest prevalence (25%) and lost time due to LBP, the most severe low back health effect studied, had the lowest prevalence (10%) among nearly 2000 US manual material handling workers. There was a significant site or regional influence in prevalence rates for seeking medical care and lost time due to LBP.

【 授权许可】

CC BY