Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the interaction between physical and psychosocial demands of work associated to low back pain. METHODS: Cross-sectional study carried out in a stratified proportional random sample of 577 plastic industry workers in the metropolitan area of the city of Salvador, Northeast Brazil in 2002. An anonymous standard questionnaire was administered in the workplace by trained interviewers. Physical demands at work were self-rated on a 6-point numeric scale, with anchors at each end of the scale. Factor analysis was carried out on 11 physical demand variables to identify underlying factors. Psychosocial work demands were measured by demand, control and social support questions. Multivariate analysis was performed using the likelihood ratio test. RESULTS: The factor analysis identified two physical work demand factors: material handling (factor 1) and repetitiveness (factor 2). The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that factor 1 was positively associated with low back pain (OR=2.35, 95% CI 1.50;3.66). No interaction was found between physical and psychosocial work demands but both were independently associated to low back pain. CONCLUSIONS: The study found independent effects of physical and psychosocial work demands on low back pain prevalence and emphasizes the importance of physical demands especially of material handling involving trunk bending forward and trunk rotation regardless of age, gender, and body fitness.
Highlights
The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that factor 1 was positively associated with low back pain (OR=2.35, 95% CI 1.50;3.66)
No interaction was found between physical and psychosocial work demands but both were independently associated to low back pain
Psychosocial demands have been identified as risk factors for low back pain.[3,5,6,9,24]
Summary
Psychosocial demands have been identified as risk factors for low back pain.[3,5,6,9,24] Low job satisfaction, poor social support at work, and high work pace are the risk factors most often mentioned. It is believed that the effect of psychosocial factors on musculoskeletal disorders is generally partially or completely independent of physical factors.[2] Psychosocial factors are usually described as organizational factors at work, but according to Huang et al[9] (2002), they reflect structural aspects of the work process and can be better understood as “qualities of the organizational environment subjectively experienced by workers. This distinction was considered and used for defining psychosocial factors
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