Spinal sagittal alignment, spinal shrinkage and back pain changes in office workers during a workday

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Ergonomics
• Spinal Biomechanics

Background:

• Prolonged sitting is a known risk factor for lower back pain.
• Office workers often experience discomfort due to their work environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate changes in spinal sagittal alignment, height, and perceived pain in office workers during an 8-hour workday.
• To assess the impact of prolonged sitting on spinal parameters and pain perception.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 41 office workers (20 women).
• Measurements included height, sitting height, thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, and perceived pain (neck, lower back, upper back) before and after an 8-hour workday.

Main Results:

• Significant decreases in height and sitting height were observed by the end of the workday.
• Upper back pain significantly increased (p=0.023) by the end of the workday.
• Spinal shrinkage correlated with neck pain in men (p=0.027) and lumbar lordosis correlated negatively with upper back pain in women (p=0.012).

Conclusions:

• Office workers experience spinal shrinkage and increased upper back pain after an 8-hour workday.
• Spinal sagittal alignment did not change significantly throughout the workday.
• Both male and female office workers are affected by spinal shrinkage.