Important work demands for reducing sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain: a prospective cohort study

Table 7 Difference in distribution of one year registered sickness-absence net days (n-days) > 14 days by reporting high or low physical work demand exposure

	Work demand exposure
	Low		High
	N	Mean n-days	N	Mean n-days	P*
Lifting ≥15 kg
WAS 10 Excellent	1344	6	534	10	< 0.01
WAS 8–9 Good	1038	8	522	12	0.06
WAS 6–7 Moderate	415	14	298	14	0.10
WAS 1–5 Poor	179	36	103	29	0.83
Twisted work posture
WAS 10 Excellent	1423	6	446	9	0.41
WAS 8–9 Good	1173	9	372	13	< 0.01
WAS 6–7 Moderate	469	11	234	17	< 0.05
WAS 1–5 Poor	206	37	72	22	0.43
Handheld vibrating tools
WAS 10 Excellent	1763	7	111	8	0.50
WAS 8–9 Good	1442	9	111	12	0.56
WAS 6–7 Moderate	650	14	59	11	0.19
WAS 1–5 Poor	261	32	19	45	0.63
Leaning forward without support
WAS 10 Excellent	1426	6	444	9	< 0.01
WAS 8–9 Good	1146	8	403	14	< 0.01
WAS 6–7 Moderate	474	13	232	15	0.16
WAS 1–5 Poor	193	33	88	32	0.87
Hands at shoulder level or higher
WAS 10 Excellent	1607	7	265	7	0.40
WAS 8–9 Good	1315	10	237	10	0.18
WAS 6–7 Moderate	562	16	143	10	0.19
WAS 1–5 Poor	218	33	63	33	0.84
Whole-body vibration
WAS 10 Excellent	1776	7	99	11	0.29
WAS 8–9 Good	1451	9	105	17	0.43
WAS 6–7 Moderate	656	14	55	11	0.93
WAS 1–5 Poor	267	30	13	94	0.31
Frequent trunk rotations
WAS 10 Excellent	1057	5	817	9	< 0.05
WAS 8–9 Good	797	8	760	11	0.08
WAS 6–7 Moderate	312	10	397	16	0.07
WAS 1–5 Poor	111	33	170	33	0.90
Repetitive movements
WAS 10 Excellent	1241	7	621	6	0.42
WAS 8–9 Good	988	8	559	10	0.41
WAS 6–7 Moderate	421	13	282	14	0.53
WAS 1–5 Poor	162	31	117	36	0.20
Seated work
WAS 10 Excellent	712	9	1159	5	< 0.01
WAS 8–9 Good	688	12	872	7	< 0.01
WAS 6–7 Moderate	367	13	343	14	0.82
WAS 1–5 Poor	154	26	125	42	0.18

Four thousand five hundred sixty-seven workers with self-reported neck or upper back pain by Work Ability Score (WAS). Mean number of n-days for description only. P values indicate the difference in distribution of sick days between reporting high or low exposure. Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test * = two tailed; bold numbers indicate a statistically significant difference. N = number of workers

ISSN: 1471-2474