ORIGINAL PAPER
Assessment of the type of farmers’ low back pain
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1
Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, Poland (Department of Sociology)
2
Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, Poland (Department of Public Health)
3
Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, Poland (Department of Physiotherapy)
Online publication date: 2018-05-25
Corresponding author
Dorota Tomczyszyn
Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska,
Department of Sociology, Sidorska 95/97, 21-500 Biała Podlaska, Poland
Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2018;69(4):355-64
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ABSTRACT
Background: Spinal overload among blue-collar workers occurs most frequently in the lumbar spine. Long-lasting spinal overload
results in pain syndromes leading to limitations in everyday and professional life. Material and Methods: The research
included 106 adult males working as farmers for at least 10 years. The control group included 50 male white-collar workers. Four
research tools were used: an interview questionnaire, a questionnaire assessing pain intensity and limitations in everyday functioning
of study participants, a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) measuring pain intensity and Oswestry Disability Index. Results: The
research revealed that as many as 86% of the farmers (91 individuals) experienced low back pain. In the control group only 64% of
all the white-collar workers complained of pain in this part of the spine. The farmers defined their low back pain as constant pain
or stiffness significantly more often. In addition, they reported hip pain radiating to one or 2 legs and experienced chronic and
acute back pain more frequently. The total time in which they experienced this pain was usually 11–20 years. The correlation between
pain intensity measured on a numeric scale and the level of disability of farmers was revealed. Conclusions: The research
revealed that individual farmers complained of low back pain significantly more often. The pain was usually defined as constant
pain, chronic pain, acute pain or hip pain radiating to legs. Med Pr 2018;69(4):355–364