title: Multi-site pain and working conditions as predictors of work ability in a 4-year follow-up among food industry employees.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We investigated the separate and joint effects of multi-site musculoskeletal pain and physical and psychosocial exposures at work on future work ability.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was conducted among employees of a Finnish food industry company in 2005 (n = 1201) and a follow-up survey in 2009 (n = 734). Information on self-assessed work ability (current work ability on a scale from 0 to 10; 7 = poor work ability), multi-site musculoskeletal pain (pain in at least two anatomical areas of four), leisure-time physical activity, body mass index and physical and psychosocial exposures was obtained by questionnaire. The separate and joint effects of multi-site pain and work exposures on work ability at follow-up, among subjects with good work ability at baseline, were assessed by logistic regression, and p-values for the interaction derived.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with subjects with neither multi-site pain nor adverse work exposure, multi-site pain at baseline increased the risk of poor work ability at follow-up, allowing for age, gender, occupational class, body mass index and leisure-time physical activity. The separate effects of the work exposures on work ability were somewhat smaller than those of multi-site pain. Multi-site pain had an interactive effect with work environment and awkward postures, such that no association of multi-site pain with poor work ability was seen when work environment was poor or awkward postures present.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The decline in work ability connected with multi-site pain was not increased by exposure to adverse physical or psychosocial factors at work.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. subas.neupane@uta.fi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neupane
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leino-Arjas
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siukola
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Nygård
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001290:Attitude; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003625:Data Collection; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D019649:Food Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014937:Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult