RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of incidence and analysis of the risk factors for the occurrence of back pain (BP) in a group of professionally active inhabitants of the Podkarpackie Region of south-east Poland. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study was carried out with a method of social survey on a randomly selected group of 2,000 the inhabitants of the Podkarpackie Region, age: 30-50 years. In the study group, 71.5% people reported back pain, 61% of whom indicated the pain being located in the lumbar-sacral region. RESULTS: It was shown that the chief factors increasing the frequency of occurrence of BP was the physical character of work connected with lifting heavy loads, as well as long-term work in one position with continual repetition of the same movements. The persons reporting BP were more frequently those who opted for passive forms of relaxation (p=0.0280), and the difference was significant. No significant relationship was found between body stature and the frequency of incidence of BP (p=0.6327). In the study group, there was no relationship found between the frequency of occurrence of spinal pain syndrome (SPS) and the living environment. CONCLUSIONS: In the study group of the randomly selected working inhabitants of the Podkarpackie Region, it was shown that the frequency of incidence of back pain is on the same level as in the other regions of the country. In the study group, the living environment was found not to have any significant influence on the frequency of back pain.
