Korean J Occup Environ Med.  2012 Mar;24(1):11-19.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Work-related Low Back Pain Among Operators and Drivers of Transportation Vehicle

Affiliations
  • 1Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Korea. grazzio@kosha.net

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
This study is conducted to investigate the prevalence of work-related back pain among Driving and Transport Related Occupations and to identify the risk of mechanical factors and psychosocial factors.
METHODS
Subjects were 779 operators and drivers of transportation vehicles selected from respondents from the 1st Korean Working condition survey. The occupation risk factors, including socioeconomic, ergonomic, psychosocial factors, were investigated. We used the multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the relationship between risk factors and low back pain.
RESULTS
The prevalence of self-reported work-related low back pain was 27.7%. Adjusting for confounding factors, we determined that whole body vibration(OR 1.64 95% CI: 1.09~2.48), tiring posture(OR 5.18, 95% CI: 3.01~8.93), extended work(OR 1.91, 95% CI: 1.20~3.04), night-time work(OR 2.79, 95% CI: 1.86~4.19), evening work(OR 2.82, 95% CI: 1.78~4.46), shift work(OR 2.35, 95% CI: 1.30~4.26), job dissatisfaction (OR 2.65, 95% CI: 1.76~3.99), and experiencing physical violence at work(OR 5.31, 95% CI: 1.25~22.67) had meaningful relationships with low back pain.
CONCLUSIONS
We found that the psychosocial risk factors were the most significant factors among drivers of transportation vehicles in Korea. Therefore, we suggest a health promotion program to relieve Job stress as a solution to prevent and control low back pain among drivers of transportation vehicles in Korea.

Keyword

Occupations; Low back pain; Risk factors

MeSH Terms

Back Pain
Data Collection
Health Promotion
Korea
Logistic Models
Low Back Pain
Occupations
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Transportation
Violence

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