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Low back pain and association with whole body vibration among military armoured vehicle drivers in Malaysia.


Citation

Ahmad, Rozali and Rampal, K. G. and Mohd Tamrin, Shamsul Bahri and Mohd Sidik, Sherina and Shah, Shamsul Azhar and Khairuddin, H. and Sulaiman, A. (2009) Low back pain and association with whole body vibration among military armoured vehicle drivers in Malaysia. Medical Journal of Malaysia, 64 (3). pp. 197-204. ISSN 0300-5283

Abstract

A cross sectional study was conducted among military armoured vehicle drivers in the two largest mechanized battalions with the objective to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP), and its association with whole body vibration (WBV) and other associated factors. A self-administered questionnaire and Human Vibration Meter were used in this study. A total of 159 respondents participated in this study and 102 (64.2%) of them were subjected to WBV measurement. One-hundred-and-seventeen respondents complained of LBP for the past 12 months giving a prevalence of 73.6%. The prevalence of LBP among tracked armoured vehicle drivers was higher (81.7%) as compared to wheeled armoured vehicle drivers (67.0%). The mean acceleration at Z-axis in tracked armoured vehicles (1.09 ± 0.26 ms-2) and wheeled armoured vehicles (0.33 ± 0.07 ms-2) were the dominant vibration directions. The mean estimated vibration dose value (eVDV) for eight-hour daily exposure at Z-axis (19.86 ± 4.72 ms-1.75) in tracked armoured vehicles showed the highest estimation. Based on the European Vibration Directive (2002), the mean eVDV at Z-axis in tracked armoured vehicles exceeded exposure action value (EAV) (> 9.1 ms-1.75), but did not exceed exposure limit value (ELV) (<21.0 ms-1.75). Logistic regression analysis revealed that only driving in forward bending sitting posture (OR=3.63, 95% CI 1.06-12.42) and WBV exposure at X-axis (OR=1.94, 95% CI 1.02-3.69) were significant risk factors to LBP. Preventive measures should be implemented to minimize risk of WBV and to improve ergonomic postures among drivers.


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Additional Metadata

Item Type: Article
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine and Health Science
Publisher: Malaysian Medical Association
Keywords: Estimated vibration dose value (eVDV); Low-back pain; Military armoured vehicle drivers; Tracked armoured vehicles; Wheeled armoured vehicles; Whole-body vibration.
Depositing User: Raja Norazlinda Raja Azenam
Date Deposited: 16 Jul 2013 02:52
Last Modified: 13 Nov 2015 03:05
URI: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15490
Statistic Details: View Download Statistic

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