Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jan;3(1):7-10.
doi: 10.4103/0974-8237.110117.

Management of low back pain in computer users: A multidisciplinary approach

Kiran M Shete  1 , Prachi Suryawanshi, Neha Gandhi
Affiliations

Management of low back pain in computer users: A multidisciplinary approach

Kiran M Shete et al. J Craniovertebr Junction Spine. 2012 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Low back pain is a very common phenomenon in computer users. More than 80% people using computers for more than 4 h complain of back pain.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of multidisciplinary treatment approach and conventional treatment approach amongst computer users.

Materials and methods: A prospective interventional study was carried out at a private spine clinic amongst the computer users with the complaint of low back pain. The study participants were randomly distributed in two groups. The first group comprised the study participants treated by conventional approach and the second group was treated by multidisciplinary approach. Primary outcomes analyzed were pain intensity, sick leave availed, and quality of life. Statistical analysis was done using proportions, unpaired "t" test, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results: Totally 44 study participants were randomly assigned to groups I and II, and each group had 22 study participants. Intensity of pain was reduced significantly in the group treated by multidisciplinary approach (t = 5.718; P = 0.0001). Similarly only 4 (19.19%) of the study participants of the group treated by multidisciplinary approach availed sick leave due to low back pain, while 14 (63.63%) study participants availed sick leave in the other group (P = 0.02). The quality of life amongst the study participants treated by multidisciplinary approach was significantly improved compared to the group treated by conventional approach (t = 7.037; P = 0.0001).

Conclusion and recommendation: The multidisciplinary treatment approach was better than the conventional treatment approach in low back pain cases when some factors like pain and quality of life were assessed. The multidisciplinary approach for treatment of low back pain should be promoted over conventional approach. Larger studies are required to confirm the findings in different settings.

Keywords: Computer users; low back pain; multidisciplinary approach.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pain intensity on visual analogue scores
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Frymoyer JD. Back pain and sciatica. N Engl J Med. 1988;318:291–300. - PubMed
    1. Badley EM, Rasooly I, Webster GK. Relative importance of musculo- skeletal disorders as a cause of chronic health problems, disability, and health care utilization: Findings from the 1990 Ontario health survey. J Rheumatol. 1994;21:505. - PubMed
    1. Nyman T, Grooten WJ, Wiktorin C, Liwing J, Norman L. Sickness absence and concurrent low back and neck-shoulder pain: Results from the MUSIC-Norrtalje study. Eur Spine J. 2007;16:631–3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hoogendoorn WE, Bongers PM, de Vet HC, Ariens GA, van Mechelen W, Boutler LM. High physical work load and low job satisfaction increase the risk of sickness absence due to low back pain. Occup Environ Med. 2002;59:323–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reme SE, Hagen EM, Eriksen HR. Expectations, perceptions, and physiotherapy predict prolonged sick leave in subacute low back pain. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2009;10:139. - PMC - PubMed