Lower back pain and absenteeism among professional public transport drivers

Abstract

Drivers in public transport are subjected to lower back pain. The reason for the pain is associated with the characteristics of the physical position imposed on the worker while performing the job. Lower back pain is the main cause of absenteeism among drivers. The present study includes 145 public transport drivers employed as professional drivers for an average of 14.14 years. Analysis of the data obtained in the study includes the basic descriptive statistics, χ² test and multiple regression analysis. Analysis of the incidence of lower back pain showed that the majority of our sample population suffered from pain in the lower back. We found that there are no statistically significant differences between the groups formed by the length of service as a professional driver and incidence of lower back pain; we were also interested in whether or not the risk factors of lower back pain affects the absenteeism of city bus drivers. Analysis of the data has shown that the risk factors of pain in the lower part of the spine do affect the absenteeism of city bus drivers.

Keywords:

• absenteeism
• lower back pain
• the work position
• professional bus drivers