According to the Mayo Clinic, four out of five adults will experience a debilitating episode of back pain at some point in their lives. Back ailments are second only to headaches as the most frequent cause of pain.

Medical researchers have demonstrated a link between long-term, high frequency driving and the onset of chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Researchers from the United Kingdom concluded that people who drove for more than four hours a day or 40,000 kilometres per year were six times more likely to take sick leave for a back injury than the general population. Another 2007 study found that as much as twenty percent of men in Britain regularly experience muscle or joint pain and discomfort when driving.

A group of Finnish researchers believe that previous studies correlating commercial drivers with a high degree of lower back complaints fail to take other demands of the job into account. Noting that a high proportion of drivers are also required to perform physical labour as part of their duties, the researchers examined whether this physical activity was the more likely cause of lower back complaints.

Drawing on data from Finland’s national health survey, the research team surveyed a number of commercial drivers to measure whether they suffered chronic lower back pain or sciatica complaints.

The research found that commercial driving leads to an increase in the risk of sciatica and chronic lower back pain only when the driving is combined with strenuous physical labour.

At the same time, the research demonstrated that drivers who are not required to perform strenuous physical labour were not found to be at increased risk of developing back pain or sciatica.  

The research team concluded that many back ailments believed to originate from professional driving may instead occur as a result of the additional physical labour required from professional drivers.

Authors

Kaila-Kangas, Leena. Miranda, Helen. Takala, Esa-Pekka. Leino-Arjas, Päivi. Karppinen, Jaro. Viikari-Juntura, Eira. Luukkonen, Ritva. Heliövaara, Markku.

Institutions

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health & National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Title

The Role of Past and Current Strenuous Physical Work in the Association Between Professional Car Driving and Chronic Low-Back Syndromes: A Population-Based Study

Source

Spine. 36(11):734-740, May 15, 2011.

Abstract

STUDY DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study of clinically assessed low back syndromes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether exposure to professional car driving, either alone or in combination with strenuous physical work is associated with clinically defined sciatica or other clinically diagnosed chronic low back syndromes.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Several studies have found an association between professional driving and back disorders, but drivers’ histories of heavy physical work tasks has rarely been taken into account.

METHODS: The nationally representative sample comprised of 2323 men aged 30 to 64 (the Health 2000 Survey). The diagnoses of sciatica and chronic low back syndromes were based on a standardized clinical examination by specially trained physicians. Life-long exposure to professional car driving and to physically demanding work was assessed retrospectively via interviews. Logistic regression was used to estimate the risk of clinical chronic low back syndromes related to these exposures, and the risks were presented with odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

RESULTS: The prevalence of physician-diagnosed sciatica was 5.4% and that of other chronic low back syndromes 4.0%. Professional car driving in general was associated with sciatica at an OR of 1.42 (95% CI 0.92–2.18) and with other chronic low back syndromes at an OR of 1.31 (0.80–2.16), after adjustment of covariates and strenuous physical work. Exposure to driving without exposure to physical work was not associated with the outcomes, whereas driving in combination with strenuous physical work increased the risk for sciatica threefold (3.22; 1.86–5.59), and that of low back syndromes twofold (2.08; 1.12–3.87).

CONCLUSION: The increased risk of low back disorders related to professional car driving is more likely due to strenuous work tasks rather than to driving itself.

PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21224764