Citation

Kraus JF, Schaffer KB, Rice T, Maroosis J, Harper J. Int. J. Occup. Environ. Health 2002; 8(2): 97-104.

Affiliation

Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA. jfkraus@ucla.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Maney Pub.)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12019686

Abstract

To determine the effect of back belt use on the incidence of low back injury in home attendants, a cluster-randomized trial involving employees of nine home attendant agencies in New York City was conducted. Nine agencies employing 12,772 home attendants between June 1997 and September 1999 were randomized into three groups-one group received back belts with use instruction, one group received lifting advice only, and one group served as a control. Low back injury rates per 100 full-time equivalents and rate ratios adjusted for potential confounders were estimated with random-effects Poisson regression. The back-belt group had a lower rate of low back injury than did those in both the advice-only and control groups, though the differences were marginally significant. Age, body mass index, history of back injury, years worked as a home attendant, and level of exercise were associated with risk of low back injury. The findings suggest that use of back belts is associated with some reduction in risk of low back injury.