Measuring the Prevalence and Incidence of Low Back Pain Disorders Among American Workers in the Aerospace and Defense Industry.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and incidence of low back pain (LBP) among workers in the aerospace and defense industry and in a specific company.


METHODS
Claims and demographic data from the Truven Health MarketScan normative database representing more than 1 million workers were drawn from a group of 18 US benchmark companies and compared with one particular company, Lockheed Martin Corporation.


RESULTS
The prevalence of LBP in the MarketScan normative group was 15.6% in the final study year (2012), whereas the incidence of new cases was 7.2% and 7.3% in years 2011 and 2012, respectively. Compared with the normative group, the company's prevalence and incidence rates were lower. Women and older workers were more likely to experience LBP compared with men and younger workers.


CONCLUSIONS
The analysis was used to inform the company's leadership about the health burden of the condition and evaluate alternative treatment options to prevent the incidences and reduce the prevalence of clinical back pain among workers.
Truven Health Analytics (Drs Goetzel, Wang, and Tabrizi, and Ms D'Arco), Cambridge, Mass, Bethesda, MD; Institute for Health and Productivity Studies (Drs Goetzel, Roemer, and Prasad), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Washington, DC; and Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, Md (Ms Thomas and Dr Yarborough).
Ron Z
RZ
Goetzel
Malinda
M
D'Arco
Jordana
J
Thomas
Degang
D
Wang
Maryam J
MJ
Tabrizi
Enid Chung
EC
Roemer
Aishwarya
A
Prasad
Charles M
CM
Yarborough
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001359:Aviation; D002959:Civil Defense; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007221:Industry; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology