Musculoskeletal Disorders and Physical Workload, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark
Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, Research Unit for Muscle Physiology and Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
BMJ Open. 2020 Dec 7;10(12):e040158. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040158.
Physically demanding work increases the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders during working life, with low back pain (LBP) as the most prevalent and debilitating musculoskeletal disorder worldwide. However, a lack of knowledge exists about the role of early working years on musculoskeletal health later in life. This study investigated whether an exposure-response association exists between physical demands in early working life and risk of LBP in later working life.
Cross-sectional study.
SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND OUTCOME MEASURE: In the SeniorWorkingLife study, 5909 wage earners aged ≥50 years with currently sedentary work replied to a questionnaire survey in 2018 about physical work demands during their first working years (exposure) and current LBP (outcome). Associations between physical work demands in the early working years and current LBP were modelled using general linear models controlling for various confounders, combined with model-assisted weights based on national registers.
Hard physical work during early working life was associated with more intense LBP later in life among senior workers with currently sedentary jobs. In the fully adjusted model, workers with 'standing/walking work with lifting/carrying' and 'heavy or fast work that is physically strenuous' during the first years of working life reported higher LBP intensity than those with sedentary work during their first working years (0.2 (95% CI, 0.0 to 0.4) and 0.6 (95% CI, 0.4 to 0.9), respectively).
Work involving lifting/carrying or work that is physically strenuous in early life is associated with higher intensity of LBP among older workers with currently sedentary employment. These findings suggest that early working life may have an impact on later working years and underscore the necessity for careful introduction and instruction to the working environment for retaining musculoskeletal health and prolonging working life.
NCT03634410.
体力要求高的工作会增加工作生涯中患肌肉骨骼疾病的风险，其中下背痛（LBP）是全球最普遍和使人衰弱的肌肉骨骼疾病。然而，人们对早年工作对晚年肌肉骨骼健康的作用知之甚少。本研究调查了早年体力工作需求与晚年 LBP 风险之间是否存在暴露-反应关系。
横断面研究。
地点、参与者和结局测量：在 SeniorWorkingLife 研究中，5909 名年龄≥50 岁的薪级工作者目前从事久坐工作，他们在 2018 年回答了一份关于早年工作期间体力工作需求（暴露）和当前 LBP（结局）的问卷。使用控制各种混杂因素的广义线性模型，结合基于国家登记的模型辅助权重，对早年体力工作需求与当前 LBP 之间的关联进行建模。
对于目前从事久坐工作的老年工人，早年的体力工作与晚年更严重的 LBP 相关。在完全调整的模型中，在早年工作期间从事“站立/走动工作伴有举升/搬运”和“重体力或快速体力工作”的工人报告的 LBP 强度高于早年从事久坐工作的工人（分别为 0.2（95%CI，0.0 至 0.4）和 0.6（95%CI，0.4 至 0.9））。
在目前从事久坐工作的老年工人中，早年从事举升/搬运或体力劳动强度大的工作与 LBP 强度较高有关。这些发现表明早年工作生涯可能对晚年工作产生影响，并强调为保持肌肉骨骼健康和延长工作寿命，需要对工作环境进行仔细的介绍和指导。
NCT03634410。
