Personal and occupational factors associated with low-back pain in a general working population in France

Background - Low back pain is a maim public health concern because of its socioeconomic but den especially for chronic forms The put pose of this study was to analyse the associations between low-back pain and occupational and personal factors with a special focus on interactions between age and occupational exposures Methods - The study population comprised a sample of 3958 and 4526 working women and men aged 30 to 59 derived from a national health survey (2002-2003 EDS) Low back pain was assessed using the French version of the Nordic questionnaire Weight height and smoking status were obtained through interview at home Occupational exposures were self assessed The associations between low-back pain for more than 30 days in the previous year and occupational and personal factors were assessed using logistic models An interaction between age and each occupational exposure was studied Results - In the multivariate models, age was the only personal factor significantly associated with low-back pain for both genders The other personal fat tors studied were significantly associated with low-back pain for women only Handling heavy loads and awkward postures at work were strongly associated with low-back pain for both genders (respectively OR = 1 80]1 46-2 231 and OR = 1 65 [1 34-2 03] tor men and OR = 1 65 [1 32-2 06] and OR = 1 28 [1 04-1 59] for women) A high level of psychological demands at work and a low level of decision latitude were also associated with low-back pain for both genders (respectively OR = 122 [1 03-1 46] and OR a 1 32 [1 11-1 57] for men and OR = 1 31 [1 10-1 56] and OR = 1 27 [1 06-1 51] for women) Only the interaction between age and awkward postures for men was borderline significant Conclusion - This study showed strong associations between occupational exposures and persistent/recurrent low-back pain in a general working population in France Targeting these exposures in prevention programs could be useful (c) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved