Risk of low back pain among Indonesian volcano sulfur miners: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Introduction. Kawah Ijen is the main volcano sulfur-producing in Indonesia. There is still a lot of conventional Sulfur mining going on there. Every day, Sulfur miners work walking about 8.5 km to transport Sulfur weighing 70-100 kilograms using simple transporters that are only held on one shoulder to the Sulfur collection site. The health problem that is the focus of this study is the incidence of low back pain (LBP) in volcano sulfur miners. Aims and objectives. This study aims to determine the magnitude of the risk of low back pain in sulfur miners to prevent occupational diseases.. Materials and methods. This research was carried out for three months. This study adopted a retrospective cohort study design. The research sample amounted to 140 respondents taken by simple random sampling. The data collection technique was carried out by interview and lasegue test and Patrick’s test to see the respondents’ positive or negative of low back pain. Data analysis was carried out using rank spearmen test. Results. The results showed a relationship between the incidence of low back pain in the community and work (p-value < 0.000). Indonesian volcano sulfur miners are 5,032 times more at risk of low back pain than other public workers. Conclusion. Volcano Sulfur Miners are more at risk of experiencing low back pain than other occupations.