Effects of driving on low back pain.
BACKGROUND
Many previous studies have demonstrated that driving a car is a risk factor for low back pain (LBP). We have frequent contact with medical representatives who often drive cars for business, and have noticed that many of them suffer from LBP.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate how driving affected the occurrence of LBP in medical representatives.


METHODS
Questionnaire survey of all medical representatives working in Mie Prefecture (Japan).


RESULTS
A total of 551 medical representatives replied (92%). We divided the subjects into Group A (with LBP) and Group B (without LBP). There was no significant difference in mean age, height, weight or duration of continuous employment between the two groups. Mean total mileage was 342 539 km in Group A and 251 945 km in Group B (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in estimated daily mileage or estimated daily driving time between the two groups. As for backrest inclination, most of the respondents in Group A chose 105 degrees and the majority in Group B chose 120 degrees (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The total mileage was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B. We considered that the risk for LBP increased as the lumbar spine load accumulated day by day while driving a car almost every day without a holiday.
Sakakibara
Toshihiko
T
Mie University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, 174 2-chome Edobashi, Tsu-shi, Mie, 514-8507, Japan. sakakitoshi@mac.com
Kasai
Yuichi
Y
Uchida
Atsumasa
A
D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011187:Posture; D013997:Time Factors