Investigating Individual and Occupational Factors and their Interactions on Low Back Pain Severity in Workers

Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent work-related musculoskeletal disorder. Current ergonomic prevention strategies focus on reducing the effect of occupational risk factors. However, other underlying mechanisms may exist since not all workers performing the same task develop an injury. In this study, 36 LBP patients with a previous MRI scan were recruited to investigate the effects of individual and occupational factors and their interactions on LBP severity. Individual and occupational factors information was obtained through questionnaires. LBP severity ratings were obtained through a self-reported Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) questionnaire and served as the dependent variables. Stepwise linear regression analysis was performed on the variables. For ODI, a model consisting of interaction effects between individual and occupational risk factors with an adjusted R 2 value of 0.84 was obtained. These preliminary results may help to develop models to predict and, hence, prevent chronic LBP.