Lumbar supports help prevent recurrent low back pain among home care workers, reports Annals of Internal Medicine.
Some 360 Dutch workers (primarily women) with recent or current low back pain were randomized to two groups. Workers in the intervention group underwent a refresher course on healthy work methods and received lumbar supports to wear on workdays in which they either had, or anticipated developing, low back pain; the control group underwent the refresher course alone.
After adjustment for confounders including BMI and age, intervention subjects averaged 53 fewer days with low back pain over the course of a year. However, the number of overall sick days (recorded in the staff register) did not differ between the groups. (A post hoc analysis of self-reported data found fewer back-pain-related sick days among intervention subjects.)
The authors conclude that "lumbar supports may be a valuable addition to secondary prevention strategies in the workplace."
LINK(S):
Annals of Internal Medicine article (Free abstract; full text requires subscription)
Published in Physician's First Watch November 20, 2007
Source : http://firstwatch.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1120/2