Burden of back pain among working populations

Abstract

Back pain is very common health problem in working populations who confront with awkward positions during work. It has been identified as the top of occupational health problems in Thailand. This descriptive study aimed to investigate (1) the situation of back pain data registry among participated general/regional hospitals, (2) the incidence rate of back pain among working populations with breakdown by gender, age and type of occupation, and (3) the health burden from back pain. Data were collected from thirty-four participated hospitals. Such data were manipulated and analyzed using frequency, percentage and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) with spread sheets. A number of patients were adjusted with the proportion of patients who did not access the services at general/regional hospital. The results showed that most of hospitals did not add ICD-10 coding for the notification of back pain related to work into the hos¬pital database. The incidence rate of back pain was 52 per 1,000 working populations and the proportion of low back pain was 33.29% of total back pain. The high incidences of back pain were found in industrial workers and agricultural workers. In addition, such incidences were higher in females than males with age 45-54 years old. The burdens of back pain among 34 hospitals (29 provinces) in males were 1,111.64 DALYs with 13.41 DALYs/100,000 working populations and 1,682.60 DALYs with 24.13 DALYs/100,000 working populations in females. This study recommended that back pain prevention from occupational exposures should address on industrial work and agriculture work. According to the under-report of work-related back pain, it is needed to improve the screening and diagnosis system of such occupational health problem toward the effectiveness of data entry into the hospital database. Such data are crucial for the planning and guiding of preventive strategies to develop surveillance and notification systems of occupational diseases.