ASSESSMENT OF THE TYPE OF FARMERS' LOW BACK PAIN

Background: Spinal overload among blue-collar workers occurs most frequently in the lumbar spine. Long-lasting spinal overload results in pain syndromes leading to limitations in everyday and professional life. Material and Methods: The research included 106 adult males working as farmers for at least 10 years. The control group included 50 male white-collar workers. Four research tools were used: an interview questionnaire, a questionnaire assessing pain intensity and limitations in everyday functioning of study participants, a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) measuring pain intensity and Oswestry Disability Index. Results: The research revealed that as many as 86% of the farmers (91 individuals) experienced low back pain. In the control group only 64% of all the white-collar workers complained of pain in this part of the spine. The farmers defined their low back pain as constant pain or stiffness significantly more often. In addition, they reported hip pain radiating to one or 2 legs and experienced chronic and acute back pain more frequently. The total time in which they experienced this pain was usually 11-20 years. The correlation between pain intensity measured on a numeric scale and the level of disability of farmers was revealed. Conclusions: The research revealed that individual farmers complained of low back pain significantly more often. The pain was usually defined as constant pain, chronic pain, acute pain or hip pain radiating to legs.