Temporal relationships between job strain and low-back pain

Objectives Psychosocial working conditions are suggested risk factors for low-back pain, but it is unclear whether these associations are causal. The present study examined whether there are lagged and bidirectional associations between job strain and low-back pain and further controlled for unmeasured time-invariant confounding. Methods The study was based on four biennial waves of data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), including 3084 men and women. Cross-lagged analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted on job strain, a combination of high job demands and low control, and any as well as low-back pain severity (how much any problems affected the respondents life). Analogous SEM (dynamic panel) models with fixed effects were also fitted to remove confounding from time-invariant factors (such as non-observed individual and environmental factors, eg, genetics, childhood conditions, personality). Results The SEM models indicated bidirectional associations between job strain and any back pain over a 2-year time lag (β=0.21 and 0.19, Pby Magnusson Hanson LL, Madsen IEH, Rugulies R, Peristera P, Westerlund H, Descatha A. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3653

http://ift.tt/2rFU0iv