Comparison Between Disability, Physical Performance, and Other Biopsychosocial Factors in Full-Duty Career Firefighters Working With and Without Current Low Back Pain.

Autor:	Mayer JM; Research, The Vert Mooney Research Foundation, San Diego, USA., Verna JL; Research, The Vert Mooney Research Foundation, San Diego, USA.; Clinical, Spine & Sport Physical Therapy, San Diego, USA., Hubka M; Clinical, Spine & Sport Physical Therapy, San Diego, USA., Phelps B; Clinical, Spine & Sport Physical Therapy, San Diego, USA., Wolfinger C; Clinical, Spine & Sport Physical Therapy, San Diego, USA., Lane CL; Research, The Vert Mooney Research Foundation, San Diego, USA.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Cureus [Cureus] 2024 Jun 11; Vol. 16 (6), pp. e62189. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 11 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.7759/cureus.62189
Abstrakt:	Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent and a top cause of disability-related early retirement in firefighters. Those with a lifetime history of LBP have various deficiencies that are associated with increased injury risk and absenteeism. However, the influence of working with current LBP on disability, physical performance, and other biopsychosocial factors has not been fully characterized in this population. The purpose of this study was to compare anthropometric measures, exercise habits, physical fitness/performance, disability/work ability, and other biopsychosocial factors of firefighters working with and without current LBP. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using baseline assessments from 419 full-duty career firefighters without documented work restrictions (age: 37.6 ± 8.8 y; 5 F, 414 M) who were enrolled in a regional wellness initiative in Southern California, USA. Current LBP status was determined by a questionnaire and confirmed by an interview. Anthropometric measures, patient-reported outcomes, and physical fitness tests were used to assess body mass index; body fat %; waist circumference; strengthening, cardiovascular, and flexibility exercise frequency; back and core muscular endurance; functional movement quality, perceived back-related disability, lift and carry ability, and firefighter task ability; sleep quality; and perceptions of fear and fatigue and catastrophic injustice experience. Scores for participants with and without current LBP were compared using analysis of variance and chi-square analysis. Results: The point prevalence of current LBP was 19.81% (83/419). For the entire cohort, those with current LBP had significantly worse scores than those without current LBP for all assessed variables, except core muscular endurance and functional movement quality. These trends held up when analyses were stratified by age and obesity categories, and approximately half of the comparisons retained statistical significance. A significantly greater percentage of participants with current LBP were working with some level of back-related disability and/or perceived physical demand characteristics of work level below the required very heavy job demands. Conclusion: Nearly one-fifth of full-duty career firefighters without documented work restrictions reported having current LBP, and these individuals had deficits in several modifiable biopsychosocial factors across five health domains. These findings can help guide future research and implementation efforts in the fire service designed to improve performance, resiliency, work readiness, recovery, and quality of life, as well as to reduce impairment, disability, and absenteeism and increase presenteeism. Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Aspire IRB of WCG IRB, Puyallup, Washington, USA, issued approval 520190022. This study was reviewed and approved by Aspire IRB of the WCG IRB, Puyallup, Washington, USA (IRB protocol number: 520190022). All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation in this study. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: This study was funded through a Fire Prevention & Safety grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Implementation of a Regional Firefighter Wellness Initiative, grant # EMW-2017-FP-00711), and 5% matching funds from The Vert Mooney Research Foundation. Financial relationships: Charity Lane, John Mayer declare(s) a patent from NA (authors). Own intellectual property (copyright) for an instrument used in this study - Firefighter Functional Task Questionnaire. John Mayer, Michael Hubka, Brandon Phelps, Charity Lane declare(s) a grant from U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Received research grant support (e.g., personnel salary, other cost items) to conduct and/or provide services for this study (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Grant #: EMW-2017-FP-00711). John Mayer, Joe Verna, Charity Lane declare(s) a patent from The Vert Mooney Research Foundation. Board Member of The Vert Mooney Research Foundation, which owns intellectual property (copyright) for an instrument used in this study - Multidimensional Task Ability Profile. John Mayer, Joe Verna, Charity Lane declare(s) non-financial support from The Vert Mooney Research Foundation. Board Member of The Vert Mooney Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which is the recipient organization of the grant discussed herein. Joe Verna declare(s) royalties from World Medical Consulting. Benefits financially from sales and subscriptions of the Multidimensional Task Ability Profile. Intellectual property info: John Mayer, Joe Verna, and Charity Lane are Board Members of The Vert Mooney Research Foundation, which owns the intellectual property (copyright) for an instrument used in this study - Multidimensional Task Ability Profile. John Mayer and Charity Lane own intellectual property (copyright) for an instrument used in this study - the Firefighter Functional Task Questionnaire. Other relationships: Funding details: This study was funded through a Fire Prevention & Safety grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Implementation of a Regional Firefighter Wellness Initiative, grant # EMW-2017-FP-00711), and 5% matching funds from The Vert Mooney Research Foundation. (Copyright © 2024, Mayer et al.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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