Back Pain Prevention Comes up Short

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Employers who offer special training and other measures to help employees avoid back pain due to lifting heavy objects may be wasting their money.

Finnish researchers who reviewed the results of 11 studies comparing back pain prevention interventions with each other and with no intervention at all find little difference in outcomes between the groups.

The studies included eight trials involving health care workers who were charged with moving patients and three trials involving workers in the baggage handling and postal industries. The studies looked at things like training programs to teach people to lift correctly, the use of back belts to support the back during lifting, physical exercise to keep the back in better shape, and several combinations of these measures. Some of the studies compared people who received some kind of intervention with those who received no help at all.

No significant differences in back pain were noted among any of the groups.

The authors suggest two explanations for these results: either the interventions just don’t work, or employees don’t properly implement them in their everyday jobs.

Whatever the case, study authors believe the findings emphasize the need for more study on job-related back pain. In an accompanying editorial, fellow researcher Niels Wedderkopp, from the Back Research Centre in Denmark, says the best solution for workers suffering from job-related back pain might be to simply look for employment elsewhere.

“A change of job and (prudently) staying active in daily life may be the best way for these patients to regain command of their back and their occupation,” he writes.

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SOURCE: BMJ.com, published online Jan. 31, 2008