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. 2020 Sep 21;21(1):622.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-020-03643-1.

Is low-back pain a limiting factor for senior workers with high physical work demands? A cross-sectional study

Patrick Pascal Nygaard  1 , Sebastian Venge Skovlund  2 , Emil Sundstrup  2 , Lars Louis Andersen  2   3
Affiliations

Is low-back pain a limiting factor for senior workers with high physical work demands? A cross-sectional study

Patrick Pascal Nygaard et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Low-back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent among senior workers and may affect work ability, especially among those with hard physical work. This study determined the joint association of LBP intensity and physical work demands with work limitiations due to pain in senior workers.

Methods: In the SeniorWorkingLife study (2018), 11,738 senior workers (≥50 years) replied to questions about physical work demands, LBP intensity, and work limitations due to pain. Using logistic regression analyses and controlling for potential confounders, associations between the physical work demands and LBP intensity (interaction) with work limitiations due to pain (outcome) was modeled.

Results: Higher LBP intensity, as well as higher physical work demands, significantly increased the odds of experiencing work limitiations due to pain, and these two factors interacted with each other (p < 0.0001). In analyses stratified for LBP intensity, higher physical work demands gradually increased the odds of experiencing work limitiations due to pain.

Conclusions: Senior workers with a combination of physically demanding work and LBP are more affected by their pain during everyday work tasks compared to workers with similar LBP-intensity in sedentary occupations. Accommodation of work demands seems especially relevant for this group of workers.

Keywords: Ergonomics; Low-back; Musculoskeletal disease; Occupational medicine; Physical work; Sustainable employment; Work ability; Work limitations; Workplace.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Weighted prevalences of work-limiting pain by physical work demands and low-back pain intensity
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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