Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Objective:

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the revised NIOSH lifting equation (RNLE) and risk of seeking care for low-back pain (SC-LBP).

Background:

The RNLE is commonly used to quantify low-back physical stressors from lifting/lowering of loads in workplaces. There is no prospective study on relationship between RNLE and SC-LBP.

Method:

A cohort of 258 incident-eligible workers from 30 diverse facilities was followed for up to 4.5 years. Job physical exposures were individually measured. Worker demographics, medical history, psychosocial factors, hobbies, and current low-back pain were obtained at baseline. The cohort was followed monthly to ascertain SC-LBP and quarterly to determine changes in physical exposure. Associations between SC-LBP and both the peak lifting index (PLI) and peak composite lifting index (PCLI) were tested in multivariate models using proportional hazards regression.

Results:

SC-LBP lifetime prevalence at baseline was 31.9%, and there were 24 incident cases during follow-up. Factors predicting SC-LBP included job physical exposure (PLI and PCLI), history of low-back pain, age, female gender, and lower body mass index. In adjusted models, risk (hazard ratio [HR]) increased per unit increase in PLI and PCLI (p = .03 and .02, and maximum HR = 23.0 and 21.9, respectively). Whereas PCLI suggested a continuous increase in risk with an increase in PCLI, the PLI showed elevated, though somewhat reduced, risk at higher exposures (HR = 14.9 at PLI = 6).

Conclusion:

Job physical stressors are associated with increased risk of SC-LBP. Data suggest that both the PLI and PCLI are useful metrics for estimating exposure to job physical stressors.

Keywords

epidemiology ergonomics occupational cohort job analysis risk assessment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adamson

Hunt

Nazareth

(2011). The influence of socio-demographic characteristics on consultation for back pain: A review of the literature. Family Practice, 28, 163–171.

Alexopoulos

E. C.

Tanagra

Konstantinou

Burdorf

(2006). Musculoskeletal disorders in shipyard industry: Prevalence, health care use, and absenteeism. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 7, 88. doi:10.1186/1471-2474-7-88

Bigos

S. J.

Battié

M. C.

Spengler

D. M.

Fisher

L. D.

Fordyce

W. E.

Hansson

T. H.

Nachemson

A. L.

Wortley

M. D.

(1991). A prospective study of work perceptions and psychosocial factors affecting the report of back injury. Spine, 16, 1–6.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011). Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work, 2010 (USDL-11-1612). Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcdnew.htm

Carey

T. S.

Evans

A. T.

Hadler

N. M.

Lieberman

Kalsbeek

W. D.

Jackman

A. M.

Fryer

J. G.

NcNutt

R. A.

(1996). Acute severe low back pain: A population based study of prevalence and care seeking. Spine, 21, 339–344.

Collett

(2003). Modeling survival data in medical research. London, UK: Chapman & Hall/CRC.

Cote

Baldwin

M. L.

Johnson

W. G.

(2005). Early patterns of care for occupational back pain. Spine, 30, 581–587.

Cox

D. R.

(1972). Regression models and life tables. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, 34, 187–220.

Croft

P. R.

Macfarlane

G. J.

Papageorgiou

A. C.

Thomas

Silman

(1998). Outcome of low back pain in general practice: a prospective study. British Medical Journal, 316, 1356–1359.

10.

de Vet

H. C. W.

Heymans

M. W.

Dunn

K. M.

Pope

D. P.

van der Beek

A. J.

Macfarlane

G. J.

Bouter

L. M.

Croft

P. R.

(2002). Episodes of low back pain: A proposal for uniform definitions to be used in research. Spine, 27, 2409–2416.

11.

Freburger

J. K.

Holmes

G. M.

Agans

R. P.

Jackman

A. M.

Darter

J. D.

Wallace

A. S.

Castel

L. D.

Kalsbeek

W. D.

Carey

T. S.

(2009). The rising prevalence of chronic low back pain. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169, 251–257.

12.

Garg

Boda

Hegmann

K. T.

Moore

J. S.

Kapellusch

J. M.

Bhoyr

Thiese

Merryweather

Deckow-Schaefer

Bloswick

Malloy

E. J.

(2014). The NIOSH lifting equation and low-back pain, Part 1: Association with low-back pain in the BackWorks prospective cohort study. Human Factors, 56, 6–28.

13.

Garg

Kapellusch

J. M.

Hegmann

K. T.

Wertsch

J. J.

Merryweather

A. S.

Deckow-Schaefer

Malloy

E. J.

(2012). The Strain Index (SI) and Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for Hand Activity Level (HAL): Risk of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in a prospective cohort. Ergonomics, 55(4), 396–414.

14.

Hurvich

C. M.

Tsai

C-L.

(1989). Regression and time series model selection in small samples. Biometrika, 76, 297–307.

15.

IJzelenberg

Burdorf

(2004). Patterns of care for low back pain in a working population. Spine, 29, 1362–1368.

16.

IJzelenberg

Burdorf

(2005). Risk factors for musculoskeletal symptoms and ensuing healthcare use and sick leave. Spine, 30, 1550–1556.

17.

Kent

P. M.

Keating

J. L.

(2005). The epidemiology of low back pain in primary care. Chiropractic & Osteopathy, l3, l3. Retrieved from http://www.chiromt.com/content/13/1/13

18.

Molano

S. M.

Burdorf

Elders

L. A.

(2001). Factors associated with medical-care seeking due to low-back pain in scaffolders. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 40, 275–281.

19.

Mortimer

(2003). To seek or not to seek? Care-seeking behaviour among people with low-back pain. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 31, 194–203.

20.

Ozguler

Leclerc

Landre

Pietri-Taleb

Niedhammer

(2000). Individual and occupational determinants of low back pain according to various definitions of low back pain. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 54, 215–220.

21.

Papageorgiou

A. C.

Macfarlane

G. J.

Thomas

Croft

P. R.

Jayson

M. I.

Silman

A. J.

(1997). Psychosocial factors in the workplace-do they predict new episodes of low back pain? Evidence from the South Manchester Back Pain Study. Spine, 22, 1137–1142.

22.

Plouvier

Leclerc

Chastang

Bonenfant

Goldberg

(2009). Socioeconomic position and low-back pain-the role of biomechanical strains and psychosocial work factors in the GAZEL cohort. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment, and Health, 35, 429–436.

23.

R Development Core Team. (2011). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from http://www.R-project.org/

24.

Vingard

Alfredsson

Hagberg

Kilbom

Theorell

Waldenstrom

Hjelm

E. W.

Wiktorin

Hogstedt

, & the MUSIC-Norrtalje Study Group. (2000). To what extent do current and past physical and psychosocial occupational factors explain care-seeking for low back pain in a working population? Results from the Musculoskeletal Intervention Center–Norrtajle Study. Spine, 25, 493–500.

25.

Waddell

Burton

A. K.

(2001). Occupational health guidelines for the management of low back pain at work: Evidence review. Occupational Medicine, 51, 124–135.

26.

Walker

B. F.

Muller

Grant

W. D.

(2004). Low back pain in Australian adults: Health provider utilization and care seeking. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics, 27, 327–335.

27.

Waters

T. R.

Putz-Anderson

Garg

(1994). Applications manual for the revised NIOSH lifting equation (Pub. No. 94-110). Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The NIOSH Lifting Equation and Low-Back Pain,Part 2

Abstract

Objective:

Background:

Method:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References