Low back pain patients' experiences of work modifications; a qualitative study

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Research Article

Paul J Watson¹  Carol Coole²  Avril Drummond² 

[1] Department of Health Sciences, Academic Unit, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK;Division of Rehabilitation and Ageing, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK;

关键词: Back Pain;    Sick Leave;    Occupational Health;    Sickness Absence;    Work Modification;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2474-11-277

 received in 2010-08-19, accepted in 2010-12-06,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundResearch indicates that work modifications can reduce sickness absence and work disability due to low back pain. However, there are few studies that have described modified work from the perspective of patients. A greater understanding of their experiences may inform future workplace management of employees with this condition.MethodsIndividual semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-five employed patients who had been referred for back pain rehabilitation. All had expressed concern about their ability to work due to low back pain. Data was analysed thematically.ResultsMany participants had made their own work modifications, which were guided by the extent of control they had over their hours and duties, colleague support, and their own beliefs and attitudes about working with back pain. A minority of the participants had received advice or support with work modifications through occupational health. Access to these services was limited and usually followed lengthy sickness absence. Implementation largely rested with the manager and over-cautious approaches were common.ConclusionsThere was little evidence of compliance with occupational health guidance on modified work. There appears to be insufficient expertise among managers and occupational health in modifying work for employees with low back pain and little indication of joint planning. On the whole, workers make their own modifications, or arrange them informally with their manager and colleagues, but remain concerned about working with back pain. More effective and appropriate application of modifications may increase employees' confidence in their ability to work.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Coole et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.