[Clinical studies in health workers employed in the manual lifting of patients: methods for the examination of spinal lesions].

To enable different research groups to make a standardized collection of clinical data on alterations of the lumbar region of the spine, protocols were used for the collection and classification of data that were proposed and thoroughly validated by the authors. The protocols include a clinical/functional examination of the spine, checking for positive anamnestic threshold, for pain on pressure/palpation of the spiny apophyses and paravertebral muscles, for painful movements, in order to classify 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade functional spondylarthropathy (for different regions of the spine). An ad hoc questionnaire was also prepared for the quantitative and qualitative study of true acute low back pain and the ingravescent low back pain controlled at the onset pharmacologically. The results of this questionnaire make it possible to calculate the incidence of acute low back pain (true and pharmacologically controlled).