Are Sitting Position and Working Duration Associated with Low Back Pain in Workers?: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is general­ly suffered by adults due to the position of the activity while working continuously. LBP can have an impact on an individual's quality of life because it can cause pain and impaired body/ movement functions. This study aims to syste­matically and quantitatively synthesized the relationships of sitting posture position, work­ing duration, and low back pain in workers. Subjects and Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted by collecting articles from a number of databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. The keywords used in the article search were “Low Back Pain” AND “Low Back Pain” AND “Office Employees” “work attitude”, “work atti­tude” AND “years of service OR “Low Back Pain” Low Back Pain OR work attitude” “years of service” OR “work attitude” “Work attitude AND Low Back Pain OR Low Back Pain AND “year of service “Low Back Pain” AND “adjust­ed odds ratio” “Years of service” AND “adjusted odds ratio ”Pathophysiology Low Back Pain. Articles were collected and selected using the PICO model, including: (1) Population = office workers, (2) Intervention = sitting position and length of service, (3) Comparison= without intervention, and (4) Outcome= low back pain. Inclusion criteria in this study is full-text, the article uses an observational study design, the article is published from 2004 to 2021, the research population is workers, reports the Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR). The articles that have been collected are selected using the PRISMA diagram. The qualitative synthesis of research data was tested using the Review Manager application (RevMan 5.3). Results: Meta-analysis of 9 cross-sectional studies showed that workers who worked 5 years had a risk of experiencing low back pain 1.43 times compared to <5 years (aOR= 1.87; 95% CI= 1.43 to 0.95; p= 0.08). Meta-analysis of 7 cross-sectional studies showed that workers who sat for 8 hours had a risk of expe­riencing low back pain 1.31 times com­pared to <8 hours (aOR= 1.31; 95% CI = 0.64 to 2.54, p= 0.43). Conclusion: Length of work 5 years and sitting position 8 hours increase the risk of experiencing low back pain in office employees. Keywords: low back pain, sitting position, working period, office worker Correspondence: Herawati Prianggi. Masters Program in Public Health, Universitas Sebelas Maret. Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java. Email: herawatiprianggii@gmail.com. Mobile: 089670447344 Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health (2021), 06(02): 211-221 https://doi.org/10.26911/jepublichealth.2021.06.02.08