Prevalence and risk factors for low back pain in industrial workers.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in industrial workers, check for possible LBP related risk factors and investigate the associations between physical activity and severity of low back pain. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study among 430 workers of an industrial company over the previous 12 months. The industrial workers were given questionnaires and assigned to two groups: (1) with low back pain, (2) without low back pain. Group 1 was then divided into three subgroups according to the answer to question (a) LBP without irradiation, called mild cases, (b) LBP with irradiation above the knee, called moderate cases, LBP with the irradiation below the knee, called severe cases. RESULTS LBP was found in 61.6% of workers. The prevalence of LBP was significantly associated with physical activity (p = 0.03). There was a significant difference between frequent physical activity and severity of LBP (p = 0.01). Work-related physical factors showed strong associations with LBP. The main risk factors for low back pain among production workers were extreme trunk flexion (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.7-7.3), as well as lifting of loads (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.9-6.2), pushing or pulling heavy loads (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.9-6.2) and exposure to whole body vibration (OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.0 -3.0). CONCLUSION Daily life conditions, job-related factors are associated with the occurrence of low back pain. These results suggest that individuals with LBP should avoid nonspecific physical activities to reduce pain and improve psychological health.