Musculoskeletal disorders and their associations with health- and work-related factors: a cross-sectional comparison between Swedish air force personnel and army soldiers

Table 5 Univariate analysis, unadjusted odds ratios (OR) for MSD in the upper quarter of the body and lumbar regions

MSD cases (yes/no)	Upper quarter			p-value	Lumbar region		p-value
	139/211^a				104/247
	n	OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI
Occupation
Air force personnel	166	3.44	2.19–5.39	<.01	2.15	1.35–3.43	<.01
Deployed soldiers	185	1.0	(ref)
Age (years) (cont.)	351	1.04	1.01–1.07	<.01	1.05	1.02–1.08	<.01
Height (cm) (cont.)	344	0.97	0.93–1.00	.07	1.03	0.99–1.08	.14
BMI (kg/m²) (cont.)	344	0.76	0.92–1.13	.45	0.97	0.87–1.08	.59
Physical activity
Low/inactive	13	0.91	0.27–3.04	.87	2.10	0.64–6.97	0.22
Active	76	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
Highly active	259	0.93	0.51–1.56	.78	1.00	0.57–1.75	.99
Uses Smokeless tobacco
Yes	106	0.67	0.41–1.10	.10	0.71	0.55–1.50	.71
No	240	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
Smoker
Yes	15	0.99	0.34–2.85	.99	1.18	0.39–3.54	.77
No	328	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
Motivated
Yes	341	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
No	4	4.75	0.49–46.15	. 18	2.46	0.34–17.67	.37
Mentally prepared
Yes	347	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
No	2	Err.			Err.		.99
Physically prepared
Yes	318	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
No	28	1.17	0.54–2.56	.69	.972	0.41–2.29	.95
Physical health
Excellent	159	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
< Excellent	191	1.90	1.23–2.95	<.01	2.11	1.31–3.41	<.01
Mental health
Excellent	265	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
< Excellent	84	1.52	0.93–2.50	.10	1.37	0.81–2.31	.24
Physical environment
Excellent	183	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
< Excellent	166	1.86	1.21–2.87	.01	1.31	0.82–2.07	.26
Social environment
Excellent	218	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
< Excellent	131	1.56	1.01–2.43	.05	1.30	0.81–2.07	.28
Work ability
Excellent	266	1.0	(ref)		1.0	(ref)
< Excellent	83	1.29	0.79–2.13	.31	1.21	0.71–2.06	.48

Numbers in bold indicate independent variables that are significantly associated with the dependent variable (p < 0.20), and carried forward to the following multiple analysis. “Motivated” was not carried forward to the multiple analysis due to missing values (n = 5). Upper quarter: neck, shoulder and thoracic region. MSD cases: Reported musculoskeletal disorder in the last year. BMI Body mass index, CI Confidence Interval. ^a: Data missing from one soldier regarding shoulder MSD

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