title: [Attendance at back care programmes: a representative study of the working population in Germany].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate nationwide participation rates in back care programmes of the German working population.
  
  
  METHODS
  From a national health survey conducted in Germany between October 1997 to March 1999 (n = 3313 employees aged 18 to 69), we investigated how participation in back care programmes correlates with sociodemographic characteristics, occupation, lifestyle and health factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately one out of six (17.5%) employee has ever attended a back care class. 7.2% took part in this kind of health promotion programme during the past year. After adjusting for various symptom prevalences, the survey revealed that males, full-time employees, singles and people with an unfavourable lifestyle were less likely to attend such programmes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper is the first to provide representative data on uptake of back care classes and investigate the correlates of participation in back care programs in Germany. The study indicates that people with the highest risk for low back pain are the least likely to take back care classes.
authors.affiliation: Stiftung Orthopädische Universitätsklinik, Sektion "Schmerztherapie", Universität Heidelberg, Germany. sven.schneider@ok.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hauf
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schiltenwolf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001416:Back Pain / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006293:Health Promotion; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors