Table 1.
Association between variables and neck and lower back pain reported by PHC workers within the previous 12 months.
| Variables | Total Sample n (%) |
Neck Pain within the Previous 12 Months | p | Lower Back Pain within the Previous 12 Months | p | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes (n = 187) |
No (n = 151) |
Yes (n = 218) |
No (n = 120) |
||||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||||
| Age (years) * | 41.4 ± 9.9 | 41.5 ± 9.8 | 41.2 ± 10.1 | 0.766 a | 41.8 ± 10.0 | 40.7 ± 9.9 | 0.331 a |
| Gender | 0.283 b | 0.012 b | |||||
| Male | 45 (13.4) | 21 (11.3) | 24 (15.9) | 21 (9.7) | 24 (20.0) | ||
| Female | 292 (86.6) | 165 (88.7) | 127 (84.1) | 196 (90.3) | 96 (80.0) | ||
| Race | 0.393 b | 0.537 b | |||||
| Caucasian # | 258 (77.2) | 143 (76.9) | 115 (77.7) | 170 (78.3) | 88 (75.2) | ||
| Afro-descendant | 37 (11.1) | 18 (9.7) | 19 (12.8) | 21 (9.7) | 16 (13.7) | ||
| Mixed | 39 (11.7) | 25 (13.4) | 14 (9.5) | 26 (12.0) | 13 (11.1) | ||
| Marital status | 0.120 b | 0.462 b | |||||
| Single | 99 (29.3) | 46 (24.6) | 53 (35.1) | 62 (28.4) | 37 (30.8) | ||
| Married/Consensual union | 198 (58.6) | 120 (64.2) | 78 (51.7) | 125 (57.3) | 73 (60.8) | ||
| Separated/Divorced | 36 (10.7) | 18 (9.6) | 18 (11.9) | 27 (12.4) | 9 (7.5) | ||
| Widowed | 5 (1.5) | 3 (1.6) | 2 (1.3) | 4 (1.8) | 1 (0.8) | ||
| Educational level | 0.371 b | 0.858 b | |||||
| Completed high school | 129 (38.2) | 70 (37.4) | 59 (39.1) | 85 (39.0) | 44 (36.7) | ||
| Some undergraduate studies/bachelor’s degree/technician | 137 (40.5) | 72 (38.5) | 65 (43.0) | 86 (39.4) | 51 (42.5) | ||
| specialization/Master’s/Ph.D. | 72 (21.3) | 45 (24.1) | 27 (17.9) | 47 (21.6) | 25 (20.8) | ||
| Number of children ** | 1 (0–2) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (0–2) | 0.399 c | 1 (0–2) | 1 (0–2) | 0.115 c |
| BMI (kg/m2) * | 28.9 ± 5.9 | 29.1 ± 6.5 | 28.6 ± 5.2 | 0.528 a | 29.3 ± 6.5 | 28.1 ± 4.7 | 0.043 a |
| Monthly income | 0.521 b | 0.397 b | |||||
| Up to 2 times the m.w. | 130 (39.2) | 76 (41.3) | 54 (36.5) | 80 (37.2) | 50 (42.7) | ||
| 2 to 4 times the m.w. | 115 (34.6) | 59 (32.1) | 56 (37.8) | 80 (37.2) | 35 (29.9) | ||
| >4 times the m.w. | 87 (26.2) | 49 (26.6) | 38 (25.7) | 55 (25.6) | 32 (27.4) | ||
| Location | 0.663 b | 0.621 b | |||||
| Rio Grande | 282 (83.4) | 158 (84.5) | 124 (82.1) | 184 (84.4) | 98 (81.7) | ||
| São José do Norte | 56 (16.6) | 29 (15.5) | 27 (17.9) | 34 (15.6) | 22 (18.3) | ||
| Second job besides PHC | 62 (18.4) | 32 (17.1) | 30 (20.0) | 0.590 b | 38 (17.4) | 24 (20.2) | 0.590 b |
| Profession | 0.051 b | 0.864 b | |||||
| Nurse | 50 (14.8) | 27 (14.4) | 23 (15.2) | 32 (14.7) | 18 (15.0) | ||
| Physician | 43 (12.7) | 19 (10.2) | 24 (15.9) | 27 (12.4) | 16 (13.3) | ||
| Nursing technician/assistant | 72 (21.3) | 34 (18.2) | 38 (25.2) | 45 (20.6) | 27 (22.5) | ||
| Community health agent | 139 (41.1) | 83 (44.4) | 56 (37.1) | 89 (40.8) | 50 (41.7) | ||
| Dentist | 13 (3.8) | 10 (5.3) | 3 (2.0) | 11 (5.0) | 2 (1.7) | ||
| Oral health technician/assistant | 15 (4.4) | 8 (4.3) | 7 (4.6) | 10 (4.6) | 5 (4.2) | ||
| Other | 6 (1.8) | 6 (3.2) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (1.8) | 2 (1.7) | ||
| Years of experience in the profession ** | 11 (3–16) | 11.5 (7–16.5) | 10.3 (1.9–16) | 0.125 c | 11.5 (7–16.5) | 10.3 (1–15.4) | 0.082 c |
| Years working in PHC services ** | 8 (1–16) | 9 (1.9–14.4) | 6 (0.8–11.6) | 0.007 c | 8.4 (1.8–13.1) | 6 (0.7–11.9) | 0.047 c |
| Weekly workload | 44.5 ± 13.2 | 39.7 ± 4.8 | 39.5 ± 5.8 | 0.718 a | 44.0 ± 13.4 | 45.3 ± 12.9 | 0.379 a |
| Workday at PHC | 0.114 b | 0.932 b | |||||
| Day shift | 300 (89.3) | 172 (92.5) | 128 (85.3) | 193 (88.9) | 107 (89.9) | ||
| Night shift | 8 (2.4) | 2 (1.1) | 6 (4.0) | 6 (2.8) | 2 (1.7) | ||
| Night/Day shift | 23 (6.8) | 9 (4.8) | 14 (9.3) | 15 (6.9) | 8 (6.7) | ||
| Other | 5 (1.5) | 3 (1.6) | 2 (1.3) | 3 (1.4) | 2 (1.7) | ||
| Workload * | |||||||
| Mental demand | 15.4 ± 5.2 | 16.1 ± 4.7 | 14.7 ± 5.7 | 0.015 a | 15.9 ± 5.0 | 14.6 ± 5.6 | 0.024 a |
| Physical demand | 12.5 ± 5.6 | 12.9 ± 5.3 | 11.9 ± 5.9 | 0.121 a | 12.4 ± 5.3 | 12.6 ± 6.1 | 0.718 a |
| Temporal demand | 14.1 ± 5.4 | 14.6 ± 5.0 | 13.5 ± 5.8 | 0.065 a | 14.3 ± 5.2 | 13.8 ± 5.7 | 0.387 a |
| Performance | 14.5 ± 5.4 | 14.5 ± 5.3 | 14.4 ± 5.5 | 0.859 a | 14.6 ± 5.3 | 14.3 ± 5.5 | 0.659 a |
| Total effort level | 15.3 ± 4.7 | 15.7 ± 4.3 | 14.7 ± 5.0 | 0.061 a | 15.5 ± 4.4 | 14.8 ± 5.1 | 0.137 a |
| Frustration level | 12.2 ± 6.0 | 13.6 ± 5.6 | 10.5 ± 6.2 | <0.001 a | 12.8 ± 5.7 | 11.1 ± 6.5 | 0.014 a |
| Occupational risks | |||||||
| Physical | 304 (90.7) | 175 (94.6) | 129 (86.0) | 0.012 b | 204 (94.9) | 100 (83.3) | 0.001 b |
| Chemical | 269 (80.5) | 159 (85.0) | 110 (74.8) | 0.028 b | 185 (85.6) | 84 (71.2) | 0.002 b |
| Biological | 317 (94.1) | 179 (95.7) | 138 (92.0) | 0.228 b | 210 (96.8) | 107 (89.2) | 0.010 b |
| Ergonomic | 296 (87.8) | 175 (93.6) | 121 (80.7) | 0.001 b | 203 (93.1) | 93 (78.2) | <0.001 b |
| Psychosocial | 325 (96.2) | 183 (97.9) | 142 (94.0) | 0.126 b | 214 (98.2) | 111 (92.5) | 0.015 b |
| Psychiatric symptoms/disorders *** | 241 (71.3) | 157 (84.0) | 84 (55.6) | <0.001 b | 175 (80.3) | 66 (55.0) | <0.001 b |
| Anxiety | 175 (51.8) | 117 (62.6) | 58 (38.4) | <0.001 b | 129 (59.2) | 46 (38.3) | <0.001 b |
| Depressive episodes | 97 (28.7) | 73 (39.0) | 24 (15.9) | <0.001 b | 78 (35.8) | 19 (15.8) | <0.001 b |
| Panic syndrome | 33 (9.8) | 24 (12.8) | 9 (6.0) | 0.053 b | 29 (13.3) | 4 (3.3) | 0.006 b |
| Stress | 182 (53.8) | 126 (67.4) | 56 (37.1) | <0.001 b | 137 (62.8) | 45 (37.5) | <0.001 b |
| Sleep–wake cycle disorder | 78 (23.1) | 62 (33.2) | 16 (10.6) | <0.001 b | 62 (28.4) | 16 (13.3) | <0.001 b |
# One Asian individual was included. a Student’s t-test; b Pearson’s Chi-square; c Mann–Whitney Test; * Described by the mean ± SD; ** Described by the median (25–75 percentiles); *** Involves the presence of any of the following mental disorders: anxiety, depressive episodes, panic syndrome, stress, or sleep–wake cycle disorder.