Prevalence and influencing factors of chronic back pain among staff at special schools with multiple and severely handicapped children in Germany: results of a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundIn Germany, about 70,000 teachers and educational staff were teaching at more than 3,000 special schools during the school year 2010/2011. Nursing services like lifting pupils form a substantial part of the work content of the staff at special schools. Since nursing care often involves carrying and lifting pupils, there is a reason to assume an adverse effect on the musculoskeletal health of teachers and other professionals. With the present study we aimed to describe the prevalence and risk factors of chronic back pain among employees at this type of school.MethodsThe cross-sectional survey was carried out between August 2010 and August 2012 at 13 special schools focusing on motoric and/or holistic development of handicapped children in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). Teachers and educational staff were interviewed using a questionnaire. We applied multivariable logistic regression analyses to identify influencing factors of chronic back pain.ResultsAltogether 395 persons (response rate: 59.7%) participated in our study. Respondents were mostly female (86.8%) with a mean age of 45 years. The prevalence of chronic back pain was 38.7%. More than 40% reported frequently carrying and lifting heavy loads (>20 kg). Age [adjusted OR = 1.03 (95%-CI 1.00-1.05) for 1-year increase in age], current smoking [adjusted OR = 2.31 (95%-CI 1.27-4.23)], depression/depressive mood [adjusted OR = 1.85 (95%-CI 1.12-3.06)], frequently carrying and lifting heavy loads [adjusted OR = 2.69 (95%-CI 1.53-4.75)], and frequent exposure to environmental impacts [adjusted OR = 2.18 (95%-CI 1.26-3.76)] were influencing factors of chronic back pain in the final multivariable regression model.ConclusionsA large proportion of teachers and educational staff suffered from chronic back pain in our study, indicating a high need for treatment in this professional group. Increasing age, current smoking, a diagnosed depression/depressive mood, carrying and lifting heavy loads, and exposure to environmental impacts were associated with chronic back pain. Due to the sparse literature on the topic, further studies using a longitudinal design are necessary for a better understanding of the risk factors of chronic back pain.

Mechanical and psychosocial work exposures: the construction and evaluation of a gender-specific job exposure matrix (JEM)

“…Dichotomous exposures, with the same probability of being misclassified for all study subjects, are assumed to underestimate or attenuate the hypothesized association studied. A study has stated that, in some settings, the use of groupbased exposure strategies can result in less biased estimates, eg, if the between-group variance is large (40).…”

Occupational injuries of teachers and educational staff at special schools with multiple and severely handicapped children in Rhineland‐Palatinate (Germany): results of a cross‐sectional study

“…The method of data collection has already been described previously 18) . Briefly, a cross-sectional study was carried out between August 2010 and August 2012 at 13 special schools focusing on motoric and/or holistic development of severely and multiple handicapped children in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany).…”

Dolor osteomuscular en docentes de una institución educativa de formación técnica y tecnológica

“…3 Respecto al género, se observó claramente mayor prevalencia y una mayor fuerza de asociación del DOM en mujeres que en hombres, evidenciado en los resultados de al menos cinco estudios revisados. 6,12,[18][19][20] Con relación a la edad, varios estudios informan que al superar los treinta años aumenta la prevalencia y la fuerza de asociación con DOM. 1,6,8,19 Con relación a los años dedicados a la labor docente, cuatro estudios encontraron con significancia estadística su relación con DOM, especialmente con exposición mayor a 10 años.…”

“…6,12,[18][19][20] Con relación a la edad, varios estudios informan que al superar los treinta años aumenta la prevalencia y la fuerza de asociación con DOM. 1,6,8,19 Con relación a los años dedicados a la labor docente, cuatro estudios encontraron con significancia estadística su relación con DOM, especialmente con exposición mayor a 10 años. 6,8,19,21 En cuanto a los factores de riesgo biomecánicos, varios estudios coinciden en que variables como la postura estática de pie o sentada, las torsiones del tronco, el levantamiento de peso y las posturas forzadas tienen asociación con DOM.…”

“…1,6,8,19 Con relación a los años dedicados a la labor docente, cuatro estudios encontraron con significancia estadística su relación con DOM, especialmente con exposición mayor a 10 años. 6,8,19,21 En cuanto a los factores de riesgo biomecánicos, varios estudios coinciden en que variables como la postura estática de pie o sentada, las torsiones del tronco, el levantamiento de peso y las posturas forzadas tienen asociación con DOM. 9,12,18,19,21 La actividad física regular, en algunos estudios se menciona como factor protector para DOM.…”