Affiliations: The University of Texas School of Public Health,
Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Houston, TX,
USA | Duke University Medical Center, Division of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Lisa A. Pompeii, Ph.D., The
University of Texas, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology &
Disease Control, 1200 Herman Pressler, RAS E-617, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Tel.:
+1 713 500 9474; Fax: +1 713 500 9264; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective: To examine possible predictors of lost workdays among
nurses and nurses' aides who sought
treatment for work-related back pain. Participants: Nursing staff employed at a tertiary care medical
center over a 13-year time period (1994 through 2006). Methods: We used existing data from clinic surveys administered to
nursing personnel during their initial treatment visit to the hospital's
occupational health clinic. Predictors of losing ⩽ 7 and ⩾ 8 workdays
was examined. Results: 589 of 708 (83%) nursing personnel with complaints of
work-related back pain completed the survey, with 31% resulting in lost
workdays. Experiencing sudden onset of pain (RR:1.9; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.1), a
combination of severe pain with numbness and tingling in the back/legs (RR:
7.4; 95% CI: 2.9, 18.6), severe pain only (RR: 4.4; 95% CI: 1.8, 11.1),
numbness and tingling in the back/legs only (RR: 3.5; 95% CI: 1.0, 12.2), and
working < 5 years at the hospital (RR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2, 4.7) were
predictive of losing ⩾ 8 workdays. Job title, work demands, work conflicts,
and most psychosocial factors were not predictive. Conclusions: Severe pain, neurologic symptoms and sudden onset of
pain were predictive of delayed return-to-work; however, these symptoms alone
should not be considered indicators of poor outcomes given that most workers
who reported these symptoms returned to work in less than 8~days. Among these
health care workers, lost workdays appear to be related to more severe
pathology rather than workplace characteristics.
Keywords: Back injuries, back pain, lost workdays, disability, nurse, nurses' aide
