Epidemiologic evidence on manual materials handling as a risk factor for back disorders: a systematic review
PainSci summary of Kuiper 1999?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible.
From the abstract: “ … only a moderate insight in the dose–response relation between exposure to lifting and occurrence of back disorders was found.”
original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
In this review, epidemiologic evidence on the role of manual materials handling in the occurrence of back disorders was systematically evaluated. Twenty-five publications that provided quantitative data on associations between manual materials handling and back disorders were selected. Study findings were evaluated on the basis of strength of association, consistency in findings and dose–response relations. The methodological quality of each study was assessed to consider the relative value of the findings. Although a considerable number of epidemiologic studies investigated the risk of lifting, only a moderate insight in the dose–response relation between exposure to lifting and occurrence of back disorders was found. Evidence on carrying and on pushing/pulling as risk factor for back disorders was very limited. Only very few quantitative studies were performed and the results of these studies were inconsistent. The amount of evidence on the risk of exposure to combined manual materials handling was only moderate. It was concluded that, based on the criteria applied in this study, epidemiologic evidence for manual materials handling as risk factor of back disorders is present, but largely based on cross-sectional studies with inherent methodological weaknesses. More longitudinal studies need to be performed in which special attention is given to accurate exposure measurements, valid assessment of back disorders, and dose–response relations.
related content
- “Systematic review: occupational physical activity and low back pain,” B K Kwon, D M Roffey, P B Bishop, S Dagenais, and E K Wai, Occup Med (Lond), 2011.
- “Dose-response relationship between work-related cumulative postural exposure and low back pain: a systematic review,” Daniel Cury Ribeiro, Daniela Aldabe, J Haxby Abbott, Gisela Sole, and Stephan Milosavljevic, Ann Occup Hyg, 2012.
- “Causal assessment of occupational lifting and low back pain: results of a systematic review,” Eugene K Wai, Darren M Roffey, Paul Bishop, Brian K Kwon, and Simon Dagenais, Spine J, 2010.
- “Effect of training and lifting equipment for preventing back pain in lifting and handling: systematic review,” KP Martimo, J Verbeek, J Karppinen, AD Furlan, EP Takala, PP Kuijer, M Jauhiainen, and E Viikari-Juntura, British Medical Journal, 2008.
These two articles on PainScience.com cite Kuiper 1999 as a source:
- PS Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! — Low back pain myths debunked and all your treatment options reviewed
- PS Don’t Worry About Lifting Technique — The importance of “lift with your legs, not your back” to prevent back pain has been exaggerated
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: the case of felt power. Gronau 2017 Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology.
- The neck and headaches. Bogduk 2014 Neurol Clin.
- Agreement of self-reported items and clinically assessed nerve root involvement (or sciatica) in a primary care setting. Konstantinou 2012 Eur Spine J.
- Effect of NSAIDs on Recovery From Acute Skeletal Muscle Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Morelli 2017 Am J Sports Med.
- Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy With Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Paige 2017 JAMA.