Effects of personal, psychosocial and occupational factors on low back pain severity in workers

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) remains the most common work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD). While most of the LBP research has focused on occupational risk factors, other underlying causal mechanisms may exist since not all workers performing the same task develop an injury. Previous research has identified three primary risk factor categories for LBP (occupational, personal and psychosocial factors); however, few studies have investigated the impact of cross categorical risk factor interactions on LBP. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational, personal and psychosocial factors, and their interactions, on LBP severity in a population of workers currently suffering from LBP. Sixty LBP patients recruited for the study through local physicians and local announcements, completed questionnaires relating to identified occupational, personal and psychosocial risk factors, and completed an Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Multiple regression models for predicting LBP severity were developed for each risk factor category and for a combined risk factor model (which included factors from all three risk factor categories) that included two-way interactions. Results showed that the final model consisted of both main effects and interaction terms between risk factor categories and had an adjusted R2 value of 0.85, a significant improvement over models developed for the individual categories. These findings illustrate the need to consider all three broad categories of risk factors simultaneously in predicting injury status and in developing effective potential intervention efforts. Relevance to industryPersonal and psychosocial factors and interactions, in addition to occupational factors, may be needed to be taken into account when designing future prevention strategies for persons in jobs with high risks for low back pain. The factors identified here may also be used to develop a predictive model for pain severity in workers.