Joint association of physical work demands and leg pain intensity for work limitations due to pain in senior workers: cr
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Joint association of physical work demands and leg pain intensity for work limitations due to pain in senior workers: crosssectional study Sebastian Venge Skovlund1* , Rúni Bláfoss1,2, Emil Sundstrup1, Kristina Thomassen1 and Lars L. Andersen1,3
Abstract Background: Leg pain, especially of the knees and hips, is common among senior workers and may limit the ability to perform physically demanding work. In light of the aging workforce, this study determined the joint association of physical work demands and leg pain intensity for work-limiting pain in senior workers. Methods: Currently employed senior workers (≥50 years) participated in the SeniorWorkingLife study in 2018 (n = 12,879). Associations between the combination of physical work demands and leg pain intensity (interaction) with work-limiting pain (outcome) were modeled using binary logistic regression analyses while controlling for potential covariates. Results: We found a significant interaction (P < 0.001) between physical work demands and leg pain intensity for work-limiting pain. The combination of higher physical work demands and higher leg pain intensity had the worst outcome in terms of the odds of experiencing work-limiting pain. For example, 70% of those with the combination of high physical work demands and leg pain intensity ≥7 (scale 0–10) experienced that the pain limited them to at least some degree in their work. Conclusions: The combination of high physical work demands and high leg pain intensity are associated with limited ability to perform work among senior workers. These findings highlight the importance of prioritizing the physical work environment in physically demanding occupations, particularly among senior workers, for prolonging working life. Thus, adjusting the work demands, e.g. through use of assistive devices, and lowering the pain, e.g. through physical rehabilitation, may be necessary to sustain work ability to a high age in this group of workers. Trial registration: This was registered as a cohort study in ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03634410) on the 18th of August 2018 (Retrospectively registered). Keywords: Manual labour, Musculoskeletal diseases, Work ability, Occupational medicine, Ergonomics, Workplace, Sustainable employment
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Musculoskeletal Disorders and Physical Workload, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to
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