Magnitude of low back pain, occupation, education, and economic level in mexican workers

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to describe the magnitude of low back pain in workers with lumbar spondyloarthrosis and determine occupational and socio-demographic factors related to the disorder. A cross-sectional, comparative survey was made of 231 (77 cases and 154 controls) Mexican workers affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security. Demographic data, workplace, and the section of the Nordic Questionnaire corresponding to back problems were collected. The cases demonstrated that the disorder had presented itself at a young age and in most of them, the LBP was intermittent and chronic. The lumbar symptoms had developed over a long period of time up to 20 years, including accumulated periods of disability totaling up to 5 years. The prevalence of pain in these cases was 83% (64). The occupations which presented the greatest differences in distribution between cases and controls were those of workers handling merchandise and materials, drivers, and members of the nursing profession. Scholarship and salary were protective factors (odds ratio (OR) = 0.17, IC95% 0.03-0.09, and OR 0.36, IC95% 0.1-0.8). Low back pain is a problem with serious repercussions in Mexico at personal and socioeconomic levels. The results suggest that the higher education and socioeconomic level a person has, the low the probability will be of developing lumbar spondyloarthrosis. Occupations which implicitly include heavy lifting and fixed sitting with vibration were those which demonstrated the most relevant difference between the two groups.