Back pain and exposure to whole body vibration in helicopter pilots

Bongers, P.M.; Hulshof, Carel; Dijkstra, Louis; Boshuizen, H. C.; Groenhout, H. J. M.; Valken, E.

doi:10.1080/00140139008925309

Cited by 121 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…walking, running or sitting in a car, tractor or helicopter. Exposure to whole body high frequency loading/vibration was found to be associated with low back pain and disc degeneration [10,92]. Loading rate influences the extent of disc deformation, possibly also the rate of fluid flow in and out of the disc [88,95], and affects the biosynthesis of the IVD cell.…”

Section: Response To Frequency Modulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of dynamic loading on the intervertebral disc

2011

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Loading is important to maintain the balance of matrix turnover in the intervertebral disc (IVD). Daily cyclic diurnal assists in the transport of large soluble factors across the IVD and its surrounding circulation and applies direct and indirect stimulus to disc cells. Acute mechanical injury and accumulated overloading, however, could induce disc degeneration. Recently, there is more information available on how cyclic loading, especially axial compression and hydrostatic pressure, affects IVD cell biology. This review summarises recent studies on the response of the IVD and stem cells to applied cyclic compression and hydrostatic pressure. These studies investigate the possible role of loading in the initiation and progression of disc degeneration as well as quantifying a physiological loading condition for the study of disc degeneration biological therapy. Subsequently, a possible physiological/beneficial loading range is proposed. This physiological/beneficial loading could provide insight into how to design loading regimes in specific system for the testing of various biological therapies such as cell therapy, chemical therapy or tissue engineering constructs to achieve a better final outcome. In addition, the parameter space of 'physiological' loading may also be an important factor for the differentiation of stem cells towards most ideally 'discogenic' cells for tissue engineering purpose.

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Section: Response To Frequency Modulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of dynamic loading on the intervertebral disc

2011

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“…Table 1 shows the OR for LBP in the occupational groups in which sitting is the major physical requirement (accounts for more than half of work-time). The occupational group that demonstrated the strongest association between sitting and reported LBP was helicopter pilots [4] (OR=9.0, 90% CI 4.9-16.4), compared with a control group of non-flying officers. Crane operators also presented a high OR [14]; they had 3.29 times (95% CI 1.52-7.12) the risk of reporting LBP than office workers.…”

Section: Lbpmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In Annual Prevalence of LBP found in studies on occupations required to sit for more than half of work-time Table 2 summarizes the studies that examine the association between the presence and/or occurrence of LBP and exposure to WBV among occupations that require sitting for more than half of working time. All studies used vibration dose as the exposure measured; however, some studies also provided the OR for vibration magnitude [5,7,9] and/or duration [4,5,7,9]. To calculate vibration dose, the studies used the formula S a i 2 .…”

Section: Lbpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between sitting and occupational LBP

et al. 2006

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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.

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“…WBV has been associated with a higher incidence of low back disorders in a number of occupations including pilot, truck driver, and heavy equipment operator (Bongers et al, 1990, Fishbein and Salter, 1950, Mansfield and Marshall, 2001, Pope and Hansson, 1992. Exposure to WBV has been demonstrated to increase risk of low back disorders by a factor of 1.2 to 39.5 (Bernard, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whole-body vibration alters proprioception in the trunk

Li¹,

Lamis²,

Wilson³

2008

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics

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Abstract:Occupational whole body vibration has long been associated with low back injuries.However, the mechanism of these injuries is not well understood. In this paper, the effect of whole body vibration on proprioception and dynamic stability was examined. Subjects exposed to 20 minutes of vertical, seated, whole body vibration were found to have a 1.58 fold increase in position sense errors after vibration relative to controls exposed to 20 minutes of the same seated posture without vibration exposure. To understand the potential effect of a sensory loss on dynamic low back stability a lumped parameter model of the trunk and neuromotor response was created. Using this model, an increase in the threshold of the sensory system was predicted to increase trunk flexion and delay neuromotor response with a sudden, unexpected perturbation. These predictions were demonstrated in a second experiment where subjects exhibited both an 11.9% increase in trunk flexion and an 11.2% increase in time to peak paraspinal muscle response (measured using integrated electromyographic activity) after exposure to 20 minutes of vertical, seated, whole body vibration.

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Back pain and exposure to whole body vibration in helicopter pilots

Cited by 121 publications

References 14 publications

The effects of dynamic loading on the intervertebral disc

The effects of dynamic loading on the intervertebral disc

Association between sitting and occupational LBP

Whole-body vibration alters proprioception in the trunk

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