title: Epidemiology of occupational low back pain.
abstract: There have been significant advances in our understanding of occupational low back pain over the last decade largely because of a noteworthy improvement in the number and quality of prospective trials. More recent work confirms that genetic factors may drive a large portion of thr risk factors. The importance of physical fitness and spine support muscle fitness is believed to protect against future occurrences. Psychosocial factors can play a role in increasing the risk of future low back pain and acute pain in becoming chronic. Some of the psychological influence may be through a muscular pain component. It is arguable that an emphasis should be placed on resources, education, and support to allow workers to be productive whether suffering from back pain or not.
authors.affiliation: Spine Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. shelerud.randy@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Randy A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shelerud
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution