title: Regular use of pain medication due to musculoskeletal disorders in the general working population: Cross-sectional study among 10,000 workers.
abstract: We aimed to determine the association between work, health, and lifestyle with regular use of pain medication due to musculoskeletal disorders in the general working population.
  
  
  
  Currently employed wage earners (N = 10,024) replied to questions about health, work, and lifestyle. The odds for regularly using medication for musculoskeletal disorders were modeled using logistic regression controlled for various confounders.
  
  
  
  Pain intensity increased the odds for using pain medication in a dose-response fashion. With seated work as reference, the odds for using pain medication were 1.26 (95%CI: 1.09-1.47) for workers engaged in standing or walking work that is not strenuous and 1.59 (95%CI: 1.39-1.82) for workers engaged in standing or walking work with lifting tasks or heavy and fast strenuous work.
  
  
  
  Workers with higher levels of physical activity at work are more likely to use pain medication on a regular basis for musculoskeletal disorders, even when adjusting for pain intensity, lifestyle, and influence at work. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:934-941, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark. esu@nrcwe.dk.
authors.forename: Emil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sundstrup
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Markus D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Jakobsen
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.|Physical Activity and Human Performance Group, SMI, Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mikkel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jay
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jeppe Z N
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Ajslev
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.|Physical Activity and Human Performance Group, SMI, Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lars L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011187:Posture; D016138:Walking; D016474:Weight-Bearing; D014937:Work / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics
keywords: analgesics; back pain; hand-wrist pain; neck-shoulder pain