Table 1 Characteristics of the cases with lumbar disc disease and control subjects separately for men and women
Males | Females | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lumbar disc herniation (n = 286) | Lumbar disc narrowing (n = 145) | Control subjects (n = 453) | Lumbar disc herniation (n = 278) | Lumbar disc narrowing (n = 206) | Control subjects (n = 448) | |||||||
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
Clinical symptoms | ||||||||||||
Motor/sensomotor radix syndrome | 157 | 54.9 | 43 | 31.0 | 137 | 49.3 | 52 | 25.2 | ||||
Sensitive (and no motoric) radix syndrome | 128 | 44.8 | 33 | 22.8 | 138 | 49.6 | 40 | 19.4 | ||||
Motor and/or sensitive radix syndrome, not further classified | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.7 | 3 | 1.1 | 2 | 1.0 | ||||
Local lumbar syndrome | - | - | 66 | 55.5 | - | - | 112 | 54.4 | ||||
Age at diagnosis/interview | ||||||||||||
< 35 years | 27 | 9.4 | 9 | 6.2 | 84 | 18.5 | 51 | 18.3 | 4 | 1.9 | 77 | 17.2 |
35 – <45 years | 91 | 31.8 | 20 | 13.8 | 119 | 26.3 | 71 | 25.5 | 27 | 13.1 | 137 | 30.6 |
45 – <55 years | 73 | 25.5 | 31 | 21.4 | 97 | 21.4 | 72 | 25.9 | 54 | 26.2 | 109 | 24.3 |
55 – <65 years | 61 | 21.3 | 51 | 35.2 | 104 | 23.0 | 58 | 20.9 | 78 | 37.9 | 94 | 21.0 |
> = 65 years | 34 | 11.9 | 34 | 23.4 | 49 | 10.8 | 26 | 9.4 | 43 | 20.9 | 31 | 6.9 |
Mean (SD) | 48.7 (11.1) | 55.0 (10.7) | 47.3 (12.6) | 47.1 (11.8) | 56.0 (9.8) | 46.4 (11.8) | ||||||
Region | ||||||||||||
Frankfurt am Main | 74 | 25.9 | 46 | 31.7 | 108 | 23.8 | 69 | 24.8 | 39 | 18.9 | 105 | 23.4 |
Freiburg | 75 | 26.2 | 35 | 24.1 | 122 | 26.9 | 75 | 27.0 | 51 | 24.8 | 115 | 25.7 |
Halle/Saale | 81 | 28.3 | 36 | 24.8 | 104 | 23.0 | 75 | 27.0 | 66 | 32.0 | 117 | 26.1 |
Regensburg | 56 | 19.6 | 28 | 19.3 | 119 | 26.3 | 59 | 21.2 | 50 | 24.3 | 111 | 24.8 |
Educational level | ||||||||||||
Graduated from high school | 74 | 25.9 | 26 | 17.9 | 182 | 40.2 | 64 | 23.0 | 27 | 13.1 | 145 | 32.4 |
Secondary school level | 83 | 29.0 | 32 | 22.1 | 125 | 27.6 | 101 | 36.3 | 59 | 28.6 | 173 | 38.6 |
Elementary level/no graduation | 127 | 44.7 | 87 | 60.0 | 146 | 32.2 | 112 | 40.3 | 119 | 57.8 | 129 | 28.8 |
Unknown | 2 | 0.7 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.2 |
Unemployment/dismissala | ||||||||||||
No | 236 | 82.5 | 121 | 83.4 | 335 | 74.0 | 240 | 86.3 | 154 | 74.8 | 355 | 79.2 |
Yes, little strain | 12 | 4.2 | 3 | 2.1 | 21 | 4.6 | 6 | 2.2 | 4 | 1.9 | 14 | 3.1 |
Yes, medium strain | 13 | 4.5 | 3 | 2.1 | 27 | 6.0 | 7 | 2.5 | 8 | 3.9 | 27 | 6.0 |
Yes, high strain | 12 | 4.2 | 10 | 6.9 | 44 | 9.7 | 10 | 3.6 | 16 | 7.8 | 32 | 7.1 |
Yes, very high strain | 12 | 4.2 | 8 | 5.5 | 24 | 5.3 | 15 | 5.4 | 23 | 11.2 | 20 | 4.5 |
Unknown | 1 | 0.3 | - | - | 2 | 0.4 | - | - | 1 | 0.5 | - | - |
Psychosocial workload (job strain) | ||||||||||||
1st tertile | 63 | 22.0 | 41 | 28.3 | 143 | 31.6 | 77 | 27.7 | 48 | 23.3 | 148 | 33.0 |
2nd tertile | 108 | 37.8 | 52 | 35.9 | 159 | 35.1 | 72 | 25.9 | 45 | 21.8 | 129 | 28.8 |
3rd tertile | 93 | 32.5 | 35 | 24.1 | 123 | 27.2 | 101 | 36.3 | 77 | 37.4 | 119 | 26.6 |
High job strain (95%-percentile) | 19 | 6.6 | 14 | 9.7 | 19 | 4.2 | 23 | 8.3 | 32 | 15.5 | 26 | 5.8 |
Not applicable (e.g., self-employed persons) | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0.7 | - | - | - | - | 15 | 3.3 |
Unknown | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 2.1 | 6 | 1.3 | 5 | 1.8 | 4 | 1.9 | 11 | 2.5 |