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Record 4 of 67 in MEDLINE EXPRESS (R) 1992-1996

TITLEBenefits and liabilities of hypermobility in the back pain
disorders of industrial workers.
AUTHOR(S)
     Larsson-LG; Mudholkar-GS; Baum-J; Srivastava-DK
SOURCE (BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION)
     J-Intern-Med.1995 Nov; 238(5): 461-7.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERIAL NUMBER
     0954-6820
LANGUAGE OF ARTICLE
     ENGLISH
ABSTRACT
     OBJECTIVES. Back pain disorders, sometimes called 'the nemesis of
medicine and the
     albatross of industry', are ubiquitous, but have stubbornly defied
diagnosis and treatment.
     Hypermobility syndrome, which is also very common, has been called
'an enigma of human
     physiology'. Both conditions have attracted wide attention and
interest only recently. In an
     earlier study, we considered the benefits and liabilities of joint
hypermobility by studying 660
     musicians in the USA. In a parallel manner, the present study
analysed the back pain
     disorders of 606 workers in a Swedish high-technology industrial
plant in the context of spinal
     hypermobility. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. The 606 industrial workers
were examined for
     spinal hypermobility using a standard protocol, and interviewed for
work-related body-posture
     requirements and the low back, shoulder and neck pain disorders
experienced by them. The
     data were analysed for associations between hypermobility and
physical complaints as a
     whole, and by taking into account gender and body-postures at work.
RESULTS. Twenty-six
     per cent (37) of 144 workers with hypermobility but only 14% (64)
of 453 without hypermobility
     experienced back pain (P < 0.002). Among the 326 workers with
sitting or standing jobs, 40%
     (29) of 71 with hypermobility had back pain, whereas only 12% (30)
of the 255 without
     hypermobility experienced back pain (P < 0.001). The corresponding
numbers with back pain
     for 235 in jobs with changing body-postures were 4.5% (3) of 66
with hypermobility and 14%
     (14) of 169 without hypermobility (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS.
Hypermobility of the spine is an
     asset if the work requires change of body-posture, but a liability
for those in a standing or
     sitting assignment. It reinforces a similar hypothesis proposed by
Larsson et al.
MEDLINE ACCESSION NUMBER
     96077066 .