Association between sitting and occupational LBP

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) has been identified as one of the most costly disorders among the worldwide working population. Sitting has been associated with risk of developing LBP. The purpose of this literature review is to assemble and describe evidence of research on the association between sitting and the presence of LBP. The systematic literature review was restricted to those occupations that require sitting for more than half of working time and where workers have physical co-exposure factors such as whole body vibration (WBV) and/or awkward postures. Twenty-five studies were carefully selected and critically reviewed, and a model was developed to describe the relationships between these factors. Sitting alone was not associated with the risk of developing LBP. However, when the co-exposure factors of WBV and awkward postures were added to the analysis, the risk of LBP increased fourfold. The occupational group that showed the strongest association with LBP was Helicopter Pilots (OR=9.0, 90% CI 4.9-16.4). For all studied occupations, the odds ratio (OR) increased when WBV and/or awkward postures were analyzed as co-exposure factors. WBV while sitting was also independently associated with non-specific LBP and sciatica. Vibration dose, as well as vibration magnitude and duration of exposure, were associated with LBP in all occupations. Exposure duration was associated with LBP to a greater extent than vibration magnitude. However, for the presence of sciatica, this difference was not found. Awkward posture was also independently associated with the presence of LBP and/or sciatica. The risk effect of prolonged sitting increased significantly when the factors of WBV and awkward postures were combined. Sitting by itself does not increase the risk of LBP. However, sitting for more than half a workday, in combination with WBV and/or awkward postures, does increase the likelihood of having LBP and/or sciatica, and it is the combination of those risk factors, which leads to the greatest increase in LBP.

A new approach to assess movements and isometric postures of spine and trunk at the workplace

“…New kinematic parameters could be presented to rate dynamic and isometric trunk and spine action. It can be expected that further occupational analyses will provide new insights into these highly relevant data of spine loads at the workplace [30]. Furthermore, these data could be of paramount importance for prevention and rehabilitation and to appreciate ergonomic measures.…”

“…As mentioned in the introduction, only weightbearing tasks can be drawn upon to document occupationspecific strain on the lower back. In industrial workplaces, however, the overwhelming majority of employees are not primarily affected by load bearing tasks [30]. Monotonous, unilateral tasks with static or repetitive demands are common in industrial jobs [5,23].…”

Epidemiology

“…OR and RR in the studies that indicated statistical significance showed the range of 1.2 to 39.5 and 1.7, respectively (Bernard et al, 1997). Lis et al reported that occupational groups exposed to WBV while sitting are at an increased risk of having LBP (OR is over 1.7), and the influence of the duration of the exposure seems more important than the magnitude of the exposure in cumulative effect, though sitting by itself did not increase the association with the present LBP (Lis et al, 2007).…”

Effects of a Posture Sensing Composite Display Device (PSCD) on Lumbopelvic Motion during Computer Work

“…Low back pain and neck pain are major health problems in the computer workplace 1,13) . Maintaining a slumped sitting posture is a risk factor for work-related muscular disorders and is closely associated with the incidence of low back pain 11,14,15) .…”