Daily text messages used as a method for assessing low back pain among workers.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a method for collecting data concerning low back pain (LBP) using daily text messages and to characterize the reported LBP in terms of intensity, variability, and episodes.


METHODS
We conducted a cohort study of LBP among workers used by a mining company. The participants were asked to answer the question "How much pain have you had in your lower back in the last 24 hours on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain imaginable" once a day for 5 weeks, with this process being repeated 6 months later.


RESULTS
A total of 121 workers participated in the first period of data collection, and 108 participated in the second period. The daily response rate was 93% for both periods, and cluster analysis was shown to be a feasible statistical method for clustering LBP into subgroups of low, medium, and high pain. The daily text messages method also worked well for assessing the episodic nature of LBP.


CONCLUSIONS
We have demonstrated a method for repeatedly measuring of LBP using daily text messages. The data permitted clustering into subgroups and could be used to define episodes of LBP.
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden. Electronic address: lage.burstrom@umu.se.
Lage
L
Burström
Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
Håkan
H
Jonsson
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
Bodil
B
Björ
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
Ulla
U
Hjalmarsson
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
Tohr
T
Nilsson
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
Christina
C
Reuterwall
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå SE-901 87, Sweden.
Jens
J
Wahlström
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008906:Mining; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D060145:Text Messaging
Cluster analysis; Episode; Low back pain; Pain intensity; Temporal characteristics; Text messaging