LOW BACK PAIN IN RELATION TO PHYSICAL WORK CAPACITY AND LOCAL TENDERNESS

Physical work capacity of garbage collectors and teachers for handicapped children among whom low back pain was predominant was investigated and compared with previous data on various industrial workers. Garbage collectors belong to a moderately fit working population with definitely larger body height, weight, and chest circumference but weaker muscle strength than usual industrial workers of 20 years ago. The physical structure, muscle strength, and other physical functions of garbage collectors had no relation to the experience of low back pain in individuals, whereas teachers of the handicapped who experienced chronical low back pain proved to have less muscle strength in the back, arms, and legs and to be less fit for jump stepping than those without a history of pain. Subjects having relatively low pain thresholds to local compression of the lower back were more frequent among teachers than among garbage collectors. It is suggested that for different modes of working or back loading the individual physical work capacity may play different roles in manifestation of the low back pain.