These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: [Complaints of low back pain among private farmers exposed to whole body vibration].
    Author: Solecki L.
    Journal: Med Pr; 2014; 65(1):55-64. PubMed ID: 24834693.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Work-related lower back disorders, which involve the lumbo-sacral region, as well as injuries of the lumbar section of the spine, are a serious and constantly growing problem in Europe. Whole body vibration is one of the major hazardous factors suspected of the development of back pain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study covered a selected group of males, 98 farmers (aged 55.3 +/- 10.1) from the area of 7 communes in the Lublin Region, engaged in the mixed agricultural production (plant-animal). The control group consisted of 40 academic workers (university and research institute employees) aged 48.9 +/- 9.6 years. A questionnaire concerning low back pain (in the lumbar region) designed by the researchers of the Institute of Rural Health in Lublin was used as a major research tool. The degree of farmers' exposure to whole body vibration was evaluated based on the parameter known as a cumulative vibration dose (d) (years x m2 x s(-1)). RESULTS: The measurements showed that the cumulative vibration dose for the selected group of farmers (98) remained within the range of 2.90-9.68 (years x m2 x s(-1)), in the time interval between 15-50 years of work in conditions of exposure to vibration. The survey confirmed that private farmers exposed to whole body vibration considerably more frequently complained of back pain (92 farmers, 94% of the total number of respondents), than academic workers (control group not exposed to whole body vibration (25 researchers, 63%); p < 0.0001. Also the frequency of back pain in all the three time intervals of employment (15-25, 26-35, 36-50 years) is significantly higher in the group of farmers than in the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of back pains experienced by farmers during the entire period of occupational activity increases with a growing dose of whole body vibration (p = 0.005). In the incidence of chronic pain an upward tendency was observed (statistically insignificant).
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]