Low Back Pain and its Assessment among Commercial Fishermen in Agenebode: An Ergonomic Perspective

Abstract

In a research done amongst commercial fishermen in Agenebode (Lat. 7.11oN, 6.69oE), the problem low back pain is significant in the fishing business. Research information is scarce on the investigation of the ergonomic stress of professional fishing. Moreover, there is no prior analysis, which investigates the relationship between low back stress (LBS) and low back pain (LBP) in fishing activities. This paper aims to measure the LBS during the gillnet and commercial crab fishing activities as well as to verify the correlation between the low back pain occurrences and those stresses reported in study of Agenebode commercial fishermen during the period (April 2017 – July 2017). A sample of 30 commercial fishermen considered in this study were exposed to LBS and the frequency of the fishing activities was assessed using questionnaire with crab pot and gillnet fishermen. The occurrence rate ratios (RR, 95% CI) of low back pain, which interrupted fishing, exposed to the high LBS and self-reported task was modelled on the basis of the multivariate generalised Poisson regression. It was observed that increased rates of low back pain correlates with the percent of time fishermen were exposed to discomforted postures. Handling of heavy loads during the loading and unloading activities generated lifting indices and high compression values, but with little overall work time (<15%). The results establish that neither ergonomic measure nor fishing task frequency alone can accurately predict LBP. Conversely, ageing, history of the LBP and self-selection out of tasks, perhaps, are significant factors that contributes to the LBS and outcomes observed