%0 Journal Article %T Temporal relationships between job strain and low-back pain %A Magnusson Hanson, Linda L. %A Madsen, Ida Elisabeth Huitfeldt %A Rugulies, Reiner %A Peristera, Paraskevi %A Westerlund, Hugo %A Descatha, Alexis %J Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health %D 2017 %8 September 43 %N 5 %@ 0355-3140 %F MagnussonHanson2017 %X '

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OBJECTIVES ': 'Psychosocial working conditions are suggested risk factors for low-back pain, but it is unclear whether these associations are causal. The present study examined whether there are lagged and bidirectional associations between job strain and low-back pain and further controlled for unmeasured time-invariant confounding.

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METHODS ': 'The study was based on four biennial waves of data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), including 3084 men and women. Cross-lagged analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted on job strain, a combination of high job demands and low control, and any as well as low-back pain severity (how much any problems affected the respondents life). Analogous SEM (dynamic panel) models with fixed effects were also fitted to remove confounding from time-invariant factors (such as non-observed individual and environmental factors, eg, genetics, childhood conditions, personality).

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RESULTS ': 'The SEM models indicated bidirectional associations between job strain and any back pain over a 2-year time lag (β=0.21 and 0.19, P<0.05), when adjusting for a range of covariates. Job strain was also associated with an increase in low-back pain severity and vice versa. However, the SEM models with fixed-effects showed no statistically significant lagged relationships between job strain and any or low-back pain severity (β=-0.05 and β=0.00, respectively).

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CONCLUSIONS ': 'This study suggests that associations between job strain and low-back pain with a lag of years may be due to residual confounding by time invariant characteristics. Further studies are, however, needed to elucidate short-term relationships.

%K back pain %K cross-lagged panel analysis %K fixed effect %K job strain %K longitudinal study %K low-back pain %K occupational health %K pain %K psychosocial work environment %K structural equation modeling %K temporal relationship %K work stress %R 10.5271/sjweh.3654 %U https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3654 %U https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3654 %P 396-404