PMID- 29631573 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20190128 LR - 20190128 IS - 1471-2474 (Electronic) IS - 1471-2474 (Linking) VI - 19 IP - 1 DP - 2018 Apr 10 TI - The relationship between low back pain and professional driving in young military recruits. PG - 110 LID - 10.1186/s12891-018-2037-3 [doi] LID - 110 AB - BACKGROUND: Episodes of low back pain (LBP) are very common among workers. A number of occupational risk factors have been shown to increase the risk for LBP. One of these risk factors is exposure to whole body vibration, which is a known characteristic in driving professions. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of driving on LBP amongst young professional drivers. METHODS: This is an historical-prospective cohort study based on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) database of male soldiers drafted between the years 1997-2006. Subjects' medical history with specific reference to LBP medical history, clinical and radiographic findings were taken as part of the recruitment process to the IDF. The study group included subjects (n = 80,599) from three occupational groups: administrative units (AU), car drivers (CD) and truck drivers (TD) that were followed for 3 years. The incidence and recrudescence rates of LBP were calculated based on standardized LBP severity tiers. RESULTS: The total incidence rate for LBP was 0.65%, 0.7% and 0.34% for AU, CD and TD respectively. In a comparison between subjects without a history of LBP (category 1) to subjects with a history of LBP without clinical findings (category 2) and subjects with a history of LBP with mild clinical / radiographic findings (category 3), the relative risk (RR) for severe LBP exacerbation was 1.4 (p < 0.001) and 3.8 (p < 0.01), respectively. The LBP exacerbation rates within different severity tiers yielded a similar trend amongst all profession groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study included 80,000 soldiers who represent a population of driving and administrative occupations aged 18-21. The significant risk factors for developing LBP were a previous history of LBP and presence of LBP symptoms at the start of work. A correlation was identified between severity of LBP at the initial examination and further exacerbation of LBP in all examined occupations. Driving as a profession in our (young) age-group was not identified as a risk factor for LBP. FAU - Zack, Oren AU - Zack O AD - The Israel Defense Forces, Medical Corps, Ramat Gan, Israel. AD - Sackler Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. FAU - Levin, Regina AU - Levin R AD - The Israel Defense Forces, Medical Corps, Ramat Gan, Israel. AD - Sackler Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. FAU - Krakov, Ayala AU - Krakov A AD - Sackler Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. AD - Maccabi Healthcare Services, the Occupational Department, Holon, Israel. FAU - Finestone, Aharon S AU - Finestone AS AD - Department of Orthopedics, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Affiliated to the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. FAU - Moshe, Shlomo AU - Moshe S AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-1458-8840 AD - Sackler Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. shlomo.moshe@gmail.com. AD - Maccabi Healthcare Services, the Occupational Department, Holon, Israel. shlomo.moshe@gmail.com. AD - Department of Occupational, 43 Geulim St, Holon, Israel. shlomo.moshe@gmail.com. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20180410 PL - England TA - BMC Musculoskelet Disord JT - BMC musculoskeletal disorders JID - 100968565 SB - IM MH - Adolescent MH - *Automobile Driving MH - Cohort Studies MH - Humans MH - Israel/epidemiology MH - Low Back Pain/*epidemiology MH - Male MH - Military Personnel/statistics & numerical data MH - Young Adult PMC - PMC5891960 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Army recruits OT - Driver OT - Driving OT - Incidence OT - Low back pain OT - Occupational exposure OT - Prevalence OT - Risks OT - Young adults COIS- COMPETING INTEREST: None of the authors have any competing interests. The authors do not have any commercial or collaborative relationships that could be construed as biased or inappropriate. The decision to submit the paper for publication was not influenced by any funding body. ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE: Ethical approval was obtained from The IDF medical corps ethics committee (reference number 1175-2012). The IDF ethics committee waived the need for formal informed consent since actual patient files were not reviewed in this study but rather computerized data only. PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. EDAT- 2018/04/11 06:00 MHDA- 2019/01/29 06:00 PMCR- 2018/04/10 CRDT- 2018/04/11 06:00 PHST- 2017/10/28 00:00 [received] PHST- 2018/04/04 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2018/04/11 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2018/04/11 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2019/01/29 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2018/04/10 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.1186/s12891-018-2037-3 [pii] AID - 2037 [pii] AID - 10.1186/s12891-018-2037-3 [doi] PST - epublish SO - BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2018 Apr 10;19(1):110. doi: 10.1186/s12891-018-2037-3.