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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Jul 1;50(5):329-340.
doi: 10.5271/sjweh.4165. Epub 2024 May 13.

Occupational psychosocial exposures and chronic low-back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Alexander Jahn  1 , Johan Hviid Andersen, Andreas Seidler, David Høyrup Christiansen, Annett Dalbøge
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Occupational psychosocial exposures and chronic low-back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Alexander Jahn et al. Scand J Work Environ Health. .

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between occupational psychosocial exposures and chronic low-back pain (LBP) by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: The research protocol was registered in PROSPERO. A systematic literature search was performed in six databases, identifying articles complying with predefined inclusion criteria. In our PECOS, we defined outcome as chronic LBP ≥3 months, exposures as occupational psychosocial exposures, and restricted study design to case-control and cohort studies. Two authors independently excluded articles, extracted data, assessed risk of bias, and graded evidence levels. Meta-analyses were performed using random-effects models.

Results: The 20 included articles encompassed six different occupational psychosocial exposures (job control, demand, strain, support, stress, and satisfaction), only 1 had low risk of bias. For all occupational psychosocial exposures, odds ratios ranged from 0.8 to 1.1. Sensitivity analyses based on risk of bias was conducted for two outcomes ie, job control and job demand, finding no differences between high and low-to-moderate risk of bias studies. Using GRADE, we found a very low level of evidence of the association for all occupational psychosocial exposures.

Conclusion: In this study, we found no association between occupational psychosocial exposures and chronic LBP. However, it is important to underline that the level of evidence was very low. High quality studies are highly warranted.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interests related to the content of this systematic review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of the association between job control and chronic low back pain. [NS=not stated; ASBE=adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and education. ‘+ others’ refer to adjustments of other confounding variables. * Number of exposed participants with chronic low back pain and number of exposed references. **Number of non-exposed participants with chronic low back pain and non-exposed references.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of the association between job demand and chronic low back pain. NS=not stated; ASBE=adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and education. ‘+ others’ refer to adjustments of other confounding variables. * Number of exposed participants with chronic low back pain and number of exposed references. **Number of non-exposed participants with chronic low back pain and non-exposed references.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of the association between job strain and chronic low back pain. NS=not stated; ASBE=adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and education. ‘+ others’ refer to adjustments of other confounding variables. *Number of exposed participants with chronic low back pain and number of exposed references. **Number of non-exposed participants with chronic low back pain and non-exposed references.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot of the association between job support and chronic low back pain. NS=not stated; ASBE=adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and education. ‘+ others’ refer to adjustments of other confounding variables. *Number of exposed participants with chronic low back pain and number of exposed references. **Number of non-exposed participants with chronic low back pain and non-exposed references.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Forest plot of the association between job stress and chronic low back pain. NS=not stated; ASBE=adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and education. ‘+ others’ refer to adjustments of other confounding variables. *Number of exposed participants with chronic low back pain and number of exposed references. **Number of non-exposed participants with chronic low back pain and non-exposed references.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Forest plot of the association between job satisfaction and chronic low back pain. NS=not stated; ASBE= adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and education. ‘+ others’ refer to adjustments of other confounding variables. *Number of exposed participants with chronic low back pain and number of exposed references. **Number of non-exposed participants with chronic low back pain and non-exposed references.
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