Back Pain To Farmers In Colorado
In the United States, work-related back pain often results in lost wages, reduced productivity, and increased medical costs. However, national surveillance data about these injuries, such as occupationally acquired back pain among workers on small or family farms, are limited. To characterize back pain in a farming population, researchers at Colorado State University interviewed adult farmers residing in eight northeastern Colorado counties (Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgewick, Washington, Weld, and Yuma)
Of the 458 men surveyed, 411 (90%) worked on farms ?5 days per week; 451 (99%) worked ?2 days per week. Of the 301 women surveyed, 136 (46%) reported working on farms ?5 days per week; 227 (66%) worked ?2 days per week. During the 12 months preceding the interviews, 196 (26%) respondents experienced back pain lasting ?1 week. The prevalence of back pain among men was slightly higher than among women; both sexes reported that the lower back was the area most often affected. Approximately 45% of respondents attributed back pain to RAs(repeated activities); however, 13% of men and 8% of women attributed back pain to single incidents (SIs) such as slipping or falling. Approximately one fifth of all respondents attributed back pain to both RAs and SIs. Depression, occupation, and long-term employment in agriculture also had statistically significant associations with back pain. In all age categories, the prevalence of back pain did not differ significantly among men and women, except among those aged 30–39 years.
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