title: Combined exposures of whole-body vibration and awkward posture: a cross sectional investigation among occupational drivers by means of simultaneous field measurements.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Multifactorial workloads such as whole-body vibration (WBV), awkward posture and heavy lifting are potential predictors for low back pain (LBP). In this study, we investigate the association between LBP and these exposures among 102 professional drivers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The combined exposures of WBV and posture are measured at different workplaces. Health and personal data as well as information about lifting tasks are collected by a questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The daily vibration exposure value (odds ratio 1.69) and an index for awkward posture (odds ratio 1.63) show significant association with the occurence of LBP. Awkward posture and heavy lifting appear to be more strongly associated with sick leave than WBV exposure. Furthermore, a combination of the measurement results of WBV and awkward posture into one quantity also shows significant correlation to LBP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combined exposure of WBV and awkward posture can be described in terms of the daily vibration exposure and the index for awkward posture. This facilitates work place assessments and future research in this area. Practitioner Summary: For the first time, quantitative measures combining whole-body vibration and awkward posture exposures have shown to correlate with the occurrence of low back pain significantly. This validates the proposed quantities and measurement methods, which facilitate workplace assessments and assist in the design of further studies which are necessary to establish a causal exposure-response relationship.
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Occupational Health and Safety of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA) , Sankt Augustin , Germany.|b Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational Medicine, University Hospital, Aachen University of Technology , Aachen , Germany.
authors.forename: Nastaran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raffler
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Occupational Health and Safety of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA) , Sankt Augustin , Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rissler
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Occupational Health and Safety of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA) , Sankt Augustin , Germany.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellegast
authors.affiliation: b Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational Medicine, University Hospital, Aachen University of Technology , Aachen , Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schikowsky
authors.affiliation: b Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational Medicine, University Hospital, Aachen University of Technology , Aachen , Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.affiliation: b Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational Medicine, University Hospital, Aachen University of Technology , Aachen , Germany.|c Faculty of Health Care and Health Sciences, Zwickau University of Applied Sciences , Zwickau , Germany.
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ochsmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D017770:Lifting / Q000009:adverse effects; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016272:Occupational Health; D011187:Posture; D012307:Risk Factors; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014732:Vibration / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Whole-body vibration; awkward posture; combined exposures; field measurements; low-back pain