Battié Michele C, Videman Tapio, Gibbons Laura E, Manninen Hannu, Gill Kevin, Pope Malcolm, Kaprio Jaakko
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Lancet. 2002 Nov 2;360(9343):1369-74. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11399-7.
Back problems are reported more by occupational drivers than by any other occupational group. One explanation is that whole-body vibration caused by the vehicle leads to accelerated disc degeneration, herniation, and associated symptoms. We aimed to investigate the effects of lifetime driving exposure on lumbar disc degeneration in monozygotic twins with very different histories of occupational driving during their life.
We assessed 45 male monozygotic twin pairs from the population-based Finnish Twin Cohort who had greatly different patterns of occupational driving during their life. Data were obtained for driving exposures and potential confounding factors through an extensive, structured interview. We assessed disc degeneration with lumbar MRI.
Disc degeneration did not differ between occupational drivers and their twin brothers. We also did not identify any overall tendency for greater degeneration or pathology in occupational drivers than their twin brothers.
Although driving may exacerbate symptoms of back problems, it does not damage the disc. Our inability to identify structural damage should be encouraging to those employed in occupations involving motorised vehicles and operation of heavy equipment.
职业司机报告的背部问题比其他任何职业群体都多。一种解释是，车辆引起的全身振动会导致椎间盘加速退变、突出及相关症状。我们旨在研究终生驾驶暴露对同卵双胞胎腰椎间盘退变的影响，这些双胞胎在其一生中职业驾驶经历差异很大。
我们评估了来自芬兰基于人群的双胞胎队列中的45对男性同卵双胞胎，他们在一生中职业驾驶模式差异很大。通过广泛的结构化访谈获得驾驶暴露和潜在混杂因素的数据。我们用腰椎MRI评估椎间盘退变。
职业司机与其孪生兄弟之间的椎间盘退变没有差异。我们也未发现职业司机比其孪生兄弟有更严重退变或病理改变的总体趋势。
虽然驾驶可能会加重背部问题的症状，但不会损害椎间盘。我们无法识别结构损伤这一点，应该会让从事涉及机动车辆和重型设备操作职业的人感到鼓舞。
