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BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Published in: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Study protocol

Study protocol title: a prospective cohort study of low back pain

Authors: Arun Garg, Kurt T Hegmann, J Steven Moore, Jay Kapellusch, Matthew S Thiese, Sruthi Boda, Parag Bhoyr, Donald Bloswick, Andrew Merryweather, Richard Sesek, Gwen Deckow-Schaefer, James Foster, Eric Wood, Xiaoming Sheng, Richard Holubkov, The BackWorks Study Team

Published in: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Background

Few prospective cohort studies of workplace low back pain (LBP) with quantified job physical exposure have been performed. There are few prospective epidemiological studies for LBP occupational risk factors and reported data generally have few adjustments for many personal and psychosocial factors.

Methods/design

A multi-center prospective cohort study has been incepted to quantify risk factors for LBP and potentially develop improved methods for designing and analyzing jobs. Due to the subjectivity of LBP, six measures of LBP are captured: 1) any LBP, 2) LBP ≥ 5/10 pain rating, 3) LBP with medication use, 4) LBP with healthcare provider visits, 5) LBP necessitating modified work duties and 6) LBP with lost work time. Workers have thus far been enrolled from 30 different employment settings in 4 diverse US states and performed widely varying work. At baseline, workers undergo laptop-administered questionnaires, structured interviews, and two standardized physical examinations to ascertain demographics, medical history, psychosocial factors, hobbies and physical activities, and current musculoskeletal disorders. All workers’ jobs are individually measured for physical factors and are videotaped. Workers are followed monthly for the development of low back pain. Changes in jobs necessitate re-measure and re-videotaping of job physical factors. The lifetime cumulative incidence of low back pain will also include those with a past history of low back pain. Incident cases will exclude prevalent cases at baseline. Statistical methods planned include survival analyses and logistic regression.

Discussion

Data analysis of a prospective cohort study of low back pain is underway and has successfully enrolled over 800 workers to date.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Study protocol title: a prospective cohort study of low back pain
Authors
Arun Garg
Kurt T Hegmann
J Steven Moore
Jay Kapellusch
Matthew S Thiese
Sruthi Boda
Parag Bhoyr
Donald Bloswick
Andrew Merryweather
Richard Sesek
Gwen Deckow-Schaefer
James Foster
Eric Wood
Xiaoming Sheng
Richard Holubkov
The BackWorks Study Team
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2474
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-14-84

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