Abstract
To analyze the role that biomechanical strains and psychosocial work factors play in occupational class disparities in low-back pain in the GAZEL cohort. Recruited in 1989, the GAZEL cohort members were employees of the French national company in charge of energy who volunteered to enroll in an annual follow-up survey. The study population comprised 1487 men who completed questionnaires in 1996 (past occupational exposure to manual material handling, bending/twisting, and driving), 1997 (psychosocial work factors), and 2001 (low-back pain using a French version of the Nordic questionnaire for the assessment of low-back pain). Associations between low-back pain for >30 days in the preceding 12 months and social position at baseline (four categories) were described with a Cox model to determine prevalence ratios for each category. We compared adjusted and unadjusted ratios to quantify the contribution of occupational exposures. The prevalence of low-back pain for >30 days was 13.6%. The prevalence of low-back pain adjusted for age was significantly higher for blue-collar workers and clerks than for managers. The number of socioeconomic disparities observed was significantly reduced when biomechanical strains were taken into account; adjusting for psychosocial factors had little impact. In this population, occupational exposures--especially biomechanical strains--played an important role in occupational class disparities for persistent or recurrent low-back pain.
Highlights
For most health dimensions, health status is worse in lower socioeconomic groups
Our hypothesis in this study was that low back pain is associated with socioeconomic position (SEP) and that occupational exposures are a pathway for this relation
Socioeconomic position and occupational strains Durations of exposure to biomechanical strains varied according to SEP
Summary
Health status is worse in lower socioeconomic groups. Such socioeconomic disparities have been described for back pain in several studies [1,2,3,4]. In the general working population of Oslo, physical job demand and job autonomy explained a substantial portion of occupational class disparities in musculoskeletal complaints [19]. Physical exposures at work such as bending, twisting, manual material handling, and whole body vibrations are considered to be risk factors for low back pain [20,21]; psychosocial factors at work are reported to play a role [22, 23] These types of factors might explain at least a part of the social inequalities in low back pain. In Oslo, working exposures and especially physical job demands explained a substantial portion of the absolute inequalities between occupational classes for low back pain [19]. We sought to assess in the longitudinal Gazel cohort the relations between low back pain and socioeconomic position, measured by occupational category or class, and to analyze the contribution of biomechanical strains and psychosocial work factors to these relations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
