Mirbod S M, Inaba R, Iwata H
Department of Hygiene, Gifu University School of Medicine, Japan.
Ind Health. 1997 Apr;35(2):212-21. doi: 10.2486/indhealth.35.212.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among various groups of subjects exposed to hand-arm transmitted vibration, and to compare the prevalence of LBP of these subjects with that of non-exposed groups.
The subjects of this study were 13 groups of males and 3 groups of females of working population leaving in a certain city located in the central part of Japan. By means of a questionnaire, interviews, field visits, or annual health examination, information on age, working career, working posture, various types of tools used, and experience of having LBP during the 12 months preceding the completion of the questionnaire were collected. The subjects' age ranged between 22 and 69 years. All subjects were classified into 5 categories, and the prevalence of LBP was obtained for them.
On the whole, complaints of LBP among male and female green tea and strawberry farmers were most frequent. There was a large variation (16.0-72.2%) in the prevalence of LBP among subjects operating vibrating tools. Among three groups of health care professionals, the prevalence of LBP was in the range of 36.5-53.0%. The senior doctors had less complaints of LBP. The prevalence of LBP among subjects who had sedentary jobs was in the range of 41.7-45.9%, and almost as high as that in blue-collar workers using vibrating tools. The prevalence of LBP among females exposed to hand-arm transmitted vibration was between 26.1 and 63%. The prevalence rates of LBP among vibration exposed subjects were plotted against the vibration magnitude of tools used by the same subjects reported in our previous study; however, no significant correlation could be obtained between the prevalence of LBP and vibration values.
Exposure to segmental vibration is less likely to be a risk factor in increasing prevalence of LBP. A higher prevalence of LBP in some groups provide strong evidence for a dominant work-related etiology in developing LBP. Regarding data presented in this study and by a review on scientific literature, suggestions for improving working posture were presented. It seemed that to decrease the risk of LBP among these subjects, special attention should be paid to stimulating the adoption of an ergonomic working posture and to ergonomic training.
本研究旨在调查接触手臂传递振动的各类人群中腰痛（LBP）的患病率，并将这些人群的LBP患病率与未接触人群的患病率进行比较。
本研究的对象是居住在日本中部某城市的13组男性和3组女性在职人员。通过问卷调查、访谈、实地考察或年度健康检查，收集了有关年龄、工作年限、工作姿势、使用的各类工具以及在问卷完成前12个月内患腰痛的经历等信息。受试者年龄在22岁至69岁之间。所有受试者被分为5类，并得出了他们的腰痛患病率。
总体而言，绿茶和草莓种植的男性和女性农民中腰痛投诉最为频繁。操作振动工具的人群中腰痛患病率差异很大（16.0 - 72.2%）。在三组医护人员中，腰痛患病率在36.5 - 53.0%之间。资深医生的腰痛投诉较少。从事久坐工作的人群中腰痛患病率在41.7 - 45.9%之间，几乎与使用振动工具的蓝领工人一样高。接触手臂传递振动的女性中腰痛患病率在26.1%至63%之间。将接触振动人群的腰痛患病率与我们之前研究中报告的同一受试者使用工具的振动幅度进行了绘图；然而，腰痛患病率与振动值之间未获得显著相关性。
接触节段性振动不太可能是增加腰痛患病率的风险因素。某些群体中较高的腰痛患病率为腰痛发展中主要的工作相关病因提供了有力证据。根据本研究呈现的数据以及科学文献综述，提出了改善工作姿势的建议。似乎为降低这些受试者中腰痛的风险，应特别注意促进采用符合人体工程学的工作姿势以及进行人体工程学培训。
