Low-back pain
Low-back pain is a common disorder involving the muscles, nerves and bones of the back. Pain can vary from a dull constant ache to a sudden sharp feeling. Low-back pain is usually classified by duration as acute (pain lasting less than six weeks), sub-chronic (six to 12 weeks) or chronic (more than 12 weeks). IWH research looks at the occupational risk factors for back pain, how to treat and manage it, and prognostic factors related to recovery and return to work.
Featured
At Work article
IWH study finds 7 in 10 injured workers still experience pain more than a year after injury
A high proportion of injured workers in Ontario experience persistent pain for well over a year after their work-related injury. According to an IWH study of workers' compensation lost-time claimants, 70 per cent of workers experience pain 18 months after their work injury.
Published: September 30, 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Blinding, sham, and treatment effects in randomized controlled trials for back pain in 2000-2019: a review and meta-analytic approach
Published: Clinical Trials, January 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Acupuncture for chronic nonspecific low back pain
Published: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, December 2020
Journal article
Journal article
Factors associated with early opioid dispensing compared with NSAID and muscle relaxant dispensing after a work-related low back injury
Published: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, July 2020
Journal article
Journal article
Exposure to a motor vehicle collision and the risk of future back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published: Accident Analysis and Prevention, May 2020
Sharing Best Evidence
What workplace interventions help workers with MSDs, pain and mental health conditions return to work?
This update of a previous systematic review sets out to find workplace-based interventions that are effective in helping workers with musculoskeletal, pain-related and/or mental health conditions return to work.
Published: December 2019
Journal article
Journal article
Understanding patient profiles and characteristics of current chiropractic practice: a cross-sectional Ontario Chiropractic Observation and Analysis STudy (O-COAST)
Published: BMJ Open, August 2019
Journal article
Journal article
Lack of prognostic model validation in low back pain prediction studies: a systematic review
Published: Clinical Journal of Pain, August 2018
Journal article
Journal article
Prescription dispensing patterns before and after a workers' compensation claim: an historical cohort study of workers with low back pain injuries in British Columbia
Published: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, July 2018
IWH in the media
Opioids linked to longer disability leaves
A Canadian review of five studies have found a link between opioid prescriptions and longer duration of time on disability, writes Sarah Dobson, who interviews Dr. Nancy Carnide and Dr. Andrea Furlan, among others, about implications of this IWH study.
Published: Canadian HR Reporter, June 2018
Journal article
Journal article
The association between a lifetime history of low back injury in a motor vehicle collision and future low back pain: a population-based cohort study
Published: European Spine Journal, January 2018