ArticleScandinavian journal of work, environment & health2025
Occupational risk factors for surgically treated lumbar disc herniation - a 33-year follow-up.
Article in Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- [Lumbar disc herniation].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- [Lumbar Disc Herniation: What's New in Surgical Treatment].Revista brasileira de ortopedia · 2026Article
- Lumbar Disc Herniation: What's New in Surgical Treatment.Revista brasileira de ortopedia · 2026Article
- Trunk and upper arm postures and movements among older workers in physically demanding occupations.Annals of work exposures and health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study aimed to assess the associations between occupational biomechanical factors and occurrence of surgically treated lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and describe the consequences in terms of early exit from the labor market.
methodsA cohort of 262 850 male construction workers participating in a national occupational health surveillance program was followed prospectively for 33 years (1987-2019). Occupational biomechanical exposures were assessed by a job exposure matrix (JEM) based on specific occupational groups. Workers who underwent surgical treatment for LDH were identified from the national patient register and data on disability pension from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Poisson regression models were used to estimate relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for biomechanical exposures, adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking status, height and time period.
resultsThere were 2451 cases of surgical treatment for LDH and the incidence peaked at age 40-45 years. Increased risks were found for often lifting >25 kg (RR 1.77, 95% CI 1.06-2.94), extreme lumbar flexion/extension (RR 1.60, 95% CI 1.37-1.88) and high exposure to whole-body vibration (RR 1.32, 95% CI 1.05-1.65). Among cases, the mean age for exiting the labor market due to disability pension was 55.9 years for white-collar workers and 51.7 years for construction workers.
conclusionsOccupational exposure to heavy lifting and working in non-neutral back postures was associated with increased risk of surgical treatment for LDH. Construction workers who have had surgery for LDH exited the labor market with disability pension earlier than white-collar workers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.