Incidence of Low Back Pain in Relation to Sedentary Workstation Design and Anthropometric Assessments

Abstract

This 12-months follow-up study aimed to investigate the incidence of low back pain (LBP) and the relations of workstation dimensions and workers anthropometry to LBP among office workers. Participants were 159 office workers from Khon Kaen University of Thailand. Data were collected by use of interview structured questionnaires, baseline measurements of workstation dimensions and anthropometric parameters. The finding of 12 months LBP incidence was 83.0%. The linear regression analysis for the linearity of the relationship between workstation dimensions and anthropometric parameters of office workers identified the linearity significance between the seat height and the popliteal height as well as the workspace (workstation) width and the sitting elbow height. The correlations of specific factors with LBP were analyzed by using t-test and chi-square test. The popliteal height, the buttock-popliteal length and the elbow height of LBP cases were significant smaller than those of non cases. The body mass index (BMI), the workspace width and the difference between the seat depth and buttock-popliteal length were significantly contributed to the occurrence of LBP. The findings are very useful for the design of the sedentary workstation. The suggestion is that the seat and workstation area should be optimized to individual worker in order to prevent LBP among office workers.