Abstract

Background: According to the data recorded by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, nearly 24% of employees from the EU-25 countries complain of back pain, while 22% report muscular pain. Materials and Methods: The study covered a selected group of 58 male farmers, inhabitants of 7 districts in the Lublin region, engaged in the mixed agricultural production (plant-animal), aged 54.9±10.1. The control group comprised 41 researchers of the University of Life Sciences and the Institute of Rural Health, aged 48.9±9.6. The basic research instrument was a self-designed questionnaire on pain complaints occurring within the motor system: in the lower and upper parts of the spine, and in the region of the neck and shoulders. Results: The results of the survey showed that of the four regions of the motor organs examined, the farmers reported most frequently pain complaints in the lower part of the spine (54 farmers; 93.1% of the total number of respondents), whereas in the control group, pain in this region was reported by 63.4% of researchers (p = 0.0002). Lower back pain most often occurred in farmers during their entire occupational life (64.8%), while in the control group this type of pain had occurred in the last 12 months (57.7%). Farmers described this pain as permanent, radiating to one or both legs, whereas in the control group these were short-lasting episodes (less than 14 days). Med Pr 2012;63(3):281-293

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