Comparison of two self-reported measures of physical work demands in hospital personnel: A cross-sectional study (original) (raw)
Related papers
2023
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among health professionals and the possible risk factors. Methods: The study was carried out from April 2018 to October 2018 among all health workers of the Orthopaedic Clinic and the Emergency Department of "Policlinico Umberto I" in Rome. LBP was assessed using the Nordic Questionnaire Musculoskeletal Disorders in the section on lumbar pain. The type of physical activity carried out as prevention was investigated by use of the International Physical Activity Questionnaires. The overall state of health and lifestyle was determined by the Short Form 12-item Health Survey. Job satisfaction and perceived work stress were assessed through the 15-questions of Karasek's Questionnaire. The intensity of the low back pain was assessed using a Numerical Rating Scale. A univariate analysis was conducted to assess the associations between socio-demographic and working variables. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess independent correlates of LBP. Results: One hundred thirteen subjects were enrolled, 52 women and 61 men. The annual periodprevalence of lumbar musculoskeletal disorder was found on 79.6% of participants with LBP. Mean value evidence of NRS was 2.66. The highest LBP risk over the 12 months was found in groups with high job demand (OR = 1.18; 95%CI: 1.01-1.38), low decision-making opportunities (for decision latitude OR = 0.87; (0-76-1.0), and low levels of physical activity (OR = 0.75; 95%CI: 0.64-0.89). Conclusion: The working environment is a potential risk factor for the development of LBP and is suitable for prevention programmes. The protective effect of physical activity and work-related stress management indicate room for improvements for the prevention of LBP in these HCWs.
Clinical Biomechanics, 1998
Objective. To determine the relative importance of modelled peak spine loads, hand loads, trunk kinematics and cumulative spine loads as predictors of reported low back pain (LBP). Background. The authors have recently shown that both biomechemical and psychosocial variables are important in the reporting of LBP. In previous studies, peak spinal load risk factors have been identified and while there is in vitro evidence for adverse effects of excessive cumulative load on tissue, there is little epidemiological evidence. Methods. Physical exposures to peak and cumulative lumbar spine moment, compression and shear forces, trunk kinematics, and forces on hands were analyzed on 130 randomly selected controls and 104 cases. Univariable and multivariable odds ratios of the risk of reporting were calculated from a backwards logistic regression analysis. Interrelationships among variables were examined by factor analysis. Results. Cases showed significantly higher loading on all biomechanical variables. Four independent risk factors were identified: integrated lumbar moment (over a shift), 'usual' hand force, peak shear force at the level of L& and peak trunk velocity. Substituting lumbar compression or moment for shear did not appreciably alter odds ratios because of high correlations among these variables. Conclusions. Cumulative biomechanical variables are important risk factors in the reporting of LBP. Spinal tissue loading estimates from a biomechanical model provide information not included in the trunk kinematics and hand force inputs to the model alone. Workers in the top 25% of loading exposure on all risk factors are at about six times the risk of reporting LBP when compared with those in the bottom 25%. Relevance Primary prevention, treatment, and return to work efforts for individuals reporting LBP all require understanding of risk factors. The results suggest that cumulative loading of the low back is important etiologically and highlight the need for better information on the response of spinal tissues to cumulative loading.
Loads on the lumbar spine during a work capacity assessment test
Work, 2004
Many clinicians and employers utilise work-related assessment tools for the purposes of identifying whether or not the performance of a specific job exposes an individual to a heightened risk of developing a low back injury. However, research has shown that some of these tools have not been assessed for validity or reliability, and thus may not accurately assess the risk associated with a particular activity. An example of a test employed by some Australian private industries is the Work Capacity Assessment Test, which is a procedure that is commonly used to screen potential employees and evaluate those workers returning to the workplace following injury. This research was designed to simulate the lifting component of the Work Capacity Assessment Test and involved a series of lifts ranging from 2.5 kg to 22.5 kg. Six subjects performed this task, whilst being assessed using two-dimensional videography and surface electromyography. The two-dimensional kinematic data were input into the 4D WATBAK software to quantify the compression forces acting between L4 and L5 during each performance. Results of this study showed that spinal compression and paraspinal muscle activity increased incrementally from the 2.5 kg lift to the 22.5 kg lift, whilst abdominal muscle activity also increased across the lifts. This study demonstrated that lifting masses of 22.5 kg or more can produce loads on the spine that are considered potentially hazardous, when compared to safe lifting guidelines, and indicated that there is a clear concern for the use of such lifting tasks in the evaluation of workers following injury.
A posture and load sampling approach to determining low-back pain risk in occupational settings
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 2001
A posture and load sampling approach to measure physical exposures was implemented within a case-control study of low-back pain reporting. The purpose of this paper was to determine how well this method was able to identify known low-back pain risk factors. Subjects, including both cyclic production and non-cyclic support workers, were studied while working in an automotive assembly facility. The study included 104 (with 20 proxies) cases, workers who reported low-back pain at work, and 129 randomly selected controls. Results indicate significant associations between low-back pain reporting and peak spinal loads (OR=2.0 for compression), shift-average spinal loading (OR=1.7 for compression), percent of time with loads in the hand (OR=1.5), maximum flexion angle (OR=2.2), and percent of time spent forward flexed beyond 458(OR=1.3). Posture and hand load variables, considered to be intermediate exposure variables, were handled separately in multivariable regression analyses from variables of peak and average spine force which directly estimate tissue loading. The work and posture sampling approach is particularly useful for heterogeneous work situations where traditional task analysis is difficult and can provide information on work and tissue load parameters which have been directly associated with risk of reporting low-back pain. Relevance to industry This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of an observational method in quantifying workplace exposures to physical risk factors for low-back pain. The method works for both cyclic and non-cyclic work. Quantified risk assessment provides key information for decision makers trying to control injury rates in industrial systems.
Prevalence and factors associated to low back pain among hospital staff
Joint Bone Spine, 2005
Results. The cumulative life-prevalence was 57.7% of the cases. The annual prevalence was 51.1% of the cases. Chronic LBP prevalence was 12.8% of the cases. Medical care was required in 61.9% of the cases. Radiological explorations were performed in 45% of the cases. ...
Low Back Functional Health Status of Patient Handlers
Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 2014
Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess low back functional health among a group of nurses with a history of low back pain symptoms in a university hospital using a direct measure of low back functional performance and compare to traditional low back disability and pain questionnaires. Methods Fifty-two nurses and patient care associates volunteered for the study. The clinical lumbar motion monitor (LMM) was used to directly measure low back functional performance. The participants performed a series of standard tasks involving trunk flexion and extension at different asymmetries. The LMM measures the motion signature of the participant (range of motion, velocity and acceleration) in all three planes of the body. The clinical LMM evaluation documented objective assessment of low back function normalized for age and gender. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was used to evaluate self-reported disability and the McGill Pain Questionnaire visual analog scale assessed pain symp...
Exposure criteria for evaluating lumbar spine load
Central European journal of public health, 2018
As a part of regular revision of the List of Occupational Diseases in the Czech Republic, efforts have been made to add a new item so that lumbar spine disease caused by overload may be recognized as occupational one, with adherence to the valid national rules, that is, clinical criteria are met and objective assessment confirms working conditions under which, according to recent scientific knowledge, such an occupational disease develops. The aim is to provide information on the use of a proposed method for working condition assessment in a real setting, based on the initial experiences gained from a pilot study carried out to validate the method. Working conditions were assessed in 55 individuals with chronic low back pain (25 males, 30 females; mean age 45.6 years; mean length of employment 15.6 years). The assessment was based on estimating compressive force on the L4/L5 intervertebral disc when performing potentially high-risk work tasks which were entered into four types of ch...
Ergonomics, 1997
There are many possible means of determining exposure ranging from self-reports of physical exposure to measures of muscle activationsand estimated spinal loads. In epidemiologic studies, issues of validity make instrumented measures preferable, however issues of cost and practicability tend to force investigators to less costly but less valid and less reliable measures of exposure, such as self-report questionnaires. This paper presents a method by which estimates of exposure from self-report questionnaires, expert observers, work sampling, video analysis and electromyograms can be reported in a common metric, Newtons of force on a tissue, and show, as an example of its application, estimation of spinal compression on auto workers. A common metric allows a¯exible approach to selection of measurement methods in occupational settings: no matter which instrument is used the results can be combined to provide an overall picture of exposure. This approach to exposure assessment for the low back allows for comparabilityacross studies and settings.