Abstract
We sought to determine occupational risk factors possibly contributory to chronic low back pain (CLBP) in teachers of physically and mentally challenged children using consecutive questionnaires with a new standard for the LBP with visual analog scale (VAS) and pain drawing (PD). The investigation was designed as a prospective cross-sectional study in 2000 and 2001 based on analysis of 1,821 and 1,825 teachers respectively, who taught physically and mentally challenged children in Osaka, Japan. Survey respondents whose self-reported LBP pain score was 1.0 or higher with a pain distribution that was confirmed in the low back or buttock area comprised 30% and 31% of the samples in 2000 and 2001 respectively. In individual follow ups the rate of LBP with a positive pain score was reduced to 24% in both annual cohorts. In a univariate analysis between the two groups, comparing LBP and non-LBP groups, there were not significant risk factors associated with LBP viz. age, or BMI. Significant differences emerged with regard to reporting previous and/or present history of other illnesses in each group. We conclude that consecutive questionnaires surveying the instances of CLBP were valuable in demonstrating the rate, appearance, and the risk factors associated with chronic low back pain.
