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Occupational Medicine Advance Access originally published online on February 22, 2008
Occupational Medicine 2008 58(5):341-347; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqn006
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Effect of psychosocial factors on low back pain in industrial workers

Mostafa Ghaffari1,2,3,4, Akbar Alipour2, Ali Asghar Farshad3, Irene Jensen2, Malin Josephson4 and Eva Vingard2,4

1 Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
2 Section for Personal Injury Prevention, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
3 Department of Occupational Health, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
4 Department of Medical Science, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Aim To test the hypothesis that workplace psychosocial factors such as demand, control, support, job satisfaction and job appreciation can predict the future onset of disabling low back pain (LBP).

Methods The present study involved a prospective cohort of 4500 Iranian industrial workers. Data were gathered by means of a self-reported questionnaire about LBP, as well as working life exposure, lifestyle factors, social exposures, co-morbidity, life events and psychosomatic complaints in 2004. All new episodes of disabling LBP resulting in medically certified sick leave during the 1-year follow-up registered by occupational health clinic inside the factory.

Results The participation rate was good (85%). A total of 744 subjects reported current LBP (point prevalence cases). A total of 52 (<2%) new episodes of disabling LBP were observed during the 1-year follow-up (incident cases). Male employees reported higher demands, lower control and lower support than female employees. Employees with high demands, low control, job strain, low job satisfaction and low job appreciation showed increased odds ratios, and these results were statistically significant.

Conclusions Few prospective studies in this field have been published, but all of them are related to industrialized countries. This prospective study suggests the aetiological role of job strain for LBP. The findings of this study indicate a substantial potential for disease prevention and health promotion at the workplace.

Keywords      Industrial workers; low back pain; psychosocial factors

Correspondence to: Mostafa Ghaffari, Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet, Box 12718, 112 94 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel: +46 737751376; fax: +46 8 6539413; e-mail: mostafa.ghaffari{at}cns.ki.se


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