title: Differences among outcome measures in occupational low back pain.
abstract: The rate of recurrence in low back pain patients has been reported as high as 70%; therefore, it is believed that researchers have a poor understanding of low back pain recovery. To enhance our understanding of recovery, a large cross-sectional study was conducted to compare outcome measures of return to work, impairment of activities of daily living, pain symptoms, and functional performance probability. A total of 208 workers were examined. The percentage of workers recovered based on return to work criteria was 99% compared to 25% for impairment of activities of daily living, 17% for symptoms, and 12.5% for functional performance probability. Single functional performance measures of range of motion, velocity, and acceleration had recovery rates of 59, 13, and 10%, respectively. It appears that all these criteria are measuring very different parameters of low back pain recovery. The residual loss in functional performance may indicate a decreased tolerance to physical demand providing potential insight for why recurrent low back pain rates are high.
authors.affiliation: Biodynamics Laboratory, Institute for Ergonomics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. Ferguson.4@osu.edu
authors.forename: Sue A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Marras
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Burr
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012008:Recurrence; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires