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Occupational lower‐back injuries in a primary medical care setting: a five‐year follow‐up study
Author(s) -
Piterman Leon,
Dunt David
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1987.tb133454.x
Subject(s) - medicine , back injury , cohort , occupational safety and health , workers' compensation , physical therapy , back pain , primary care , cohort study , occupational medicine , medical record , occupational injury , injury prevention , surgery , poison control , family medicine , compensation (psychology) , emergency medicine , alternative medicine , psychology , pathology , psychoanalysis
A cohort study with follow‐up that describes the clinical characteristics and outcome five years later of patients with new occupational lower‐back injuries, who were seen at a primary‐care occupational health clinic in 1979, is presented. Follow‐up data were obtained for 119 cases, 63% of all eligible cases. Occupational lower‐back injuries constituted 9.5% of new occupational injuries that were seen at the clinic. Men aged less than 50 years accounted for 82% of all cases, and lifting was the most common method of injury. Forty‐three per cent of patients were able to return to alternative duties without any absence from work and the majority (82%) of patients had returned to work in fewer than five days. Between 1979 and 1984, 48% of those studied had experienced recurrences of occupational lower‐back injury that required medical treatment; half these recurrences occurred on more than three occasions. At five‐year follow‐ up, 93% of patients were in work, although 70% of respondents stated they were still suffering back pain. Fewer than one‐third of patients were receiving medical or other treatment at the time of follow‐up. Only 2% of patients had undergone surgery and only 8% of patients were engaged in legal action in pursuit of a workers' compensation claim. This primary medical‐care study challenges a number of popular stereotypes concerning occupational back injuries.