The determinants of chronic disability: longitudinal prospective study of disabled low back pain workers

Project IRSST

The determinants of chronic disability: longitudinal prospective study of disabled low back pain workersManon Truchon / IRSST
Lise Fillion / Université Laval
Ginette Truchon / IRSST
Clermont Dionne / Université Laval
A. Bertrand Arsenault, Claude Viau / Université de Montréal
Thierry Petitjean-Roget / IRSST

IRSST publications Scientific publications and communications

0099-1290 : Completed

Long-term disability due to certain types of low back pain can have major human and financial impacts. In order to develop knowledge in this field and to help the people involved, the authors conducted a study according to three questions: What are the factors that affect the development of disability? Do companies’ health and safety practices and policies have an impact in this regard? Is there a relationship between the biological stress response and the employment situation?
The study, carried out with the collaboration of 439 people, shows that exposure to stressors, combined with a belief that physical activity impedes healing, contributes to emotional distress and the avoidance of physical activity, two factors that promote disability. A negative perception of occupational health and safety (OHS) organizational practices and policies may be associated with fears and beliefs about the work, such as returning to work and becoming re-injured. Finally, the inability to return to work could be associated with biological dysfunction, namely a reduction in the secretion of some hormones used for dealing with the stressful events. However, this latter result will have to be confirmed in future studies so that its scope can be better assessed.
The authors believe that the use of theoretical models, including the one proposed in this study, allows the dynamics of the development of disability to be better understood, and therefore, better targeted interventions to be established. The results obtained should lead to the development of more exhaustive models that would integrate the work environments’ ergonomic and psychosocial characteristics as well as the biological stress response.

IRSST publications
Truchon, Manon; Fillion, Lise; Truchon, Ginette; Dionne, Clermont; Arsenault, Bertrand; Viau, Claude
Les déterminants de l’incapacité liés à la lombalgie (Low-back-pain-related determinants of disability)
Études et recherches / Rapport R-487, Montréal, IRSST, 2007, 108 pages. Free download More Info

Scientific publications and communicationsCoutu M. F., Baril R., Durand M. J., Côté D., Rouleau A., Cadieux G.

Catastrophizing and negative mood: two sides of the same coin?
in IX International Forum on Primary Care Research on Low Back Pain, (9th : October 4-6, 2007 : Palma de Mallorca, Spain), 2007.

Dionne C. E., Bourbonnais R., Frémont P., Rossignol M., Stock S. R., Larocque I.

Dorsalgies non spécifiques: un algorithme comprenant 7 variables initiales prédit le statut d’incapacité au travail à 2 ans
EBM journal, no 47, 2006.

Dionne C. E., Bourbonnais R., Frémont P., Rossignol M., Stock S. R., Larocque I.

A clinical return-to-work rule for patients with back pain
in Year Book of Family Practice, Bowman, M. (éd), Elsevier, 2006.

Dionne C.E., Bourbonnais R., Frémont P., Rossignol M., Stock S., Nouwen A., Baril R.

Predicting « Return to Work in Good Health » Among Back Pain Patients in Primary Care Setting : The RAMS-Prognosis study
in Implementation and Dissemination : Getting Research into Practice : The Fourth International Forum for Primary Care Research on Low Back Pain (4th : March, 2000 : Israel), 2000, p. 102.

Gouin M.-M., Truchon M., Leblond J.

Rôle du sommeil comme médiateur psychologique chez les travailleurs atteints de lombalgie (Affiche)
in La rencontre du savoir avec 400 ans d'histoire :76e congrès de l'Association francophone pour le savoir / ACFAS, (76e : 5-9 mai, 2008 : Québec, Canada), 2008.

Mainville G., Truchon M., Soucy I.

L’influence de l’intensité de la douleur sur l’évaluation cognitive et la réponse émotionnelle chez les travailleurs et travailleuse lombalgiques en arrêt de travail
in Congrès de l'Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences / ACFAS (71e : 19-23 mai, 2003 : Rimouski, Canada), 2003.

Soucy I., Truchon M., Côté D.

Work-related factors contributing to chronic disability in low back pain
Work : A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, vol. 26, no 3, 2006, p. 313-326.

Soucy I., Truchon M., Mainville G.

Contribution des facteurs organisationnels et psychosociaux occupationnels dans l’explication de l’incapacité chronique liée aux lombalgies
in Congrès de l'Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences / ACFAS (71e : 19-23 mai, 2003 : Rimouski, Canada), 2003.

Truchon M., Côté D., Fillion L., Arsenault B., Dionne C.

Low-back-pain related disability: An integration of psychological risk factors into the stress process model
Pain, vol. 137, no 3, 2008, p. 564-573.

Truchon M., Côté D., Irachabal S.

The chronic pain coping inventory: confirmatory factor analysis of the French version.
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 7, no 13, 2006, (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/7/13).

Truchon M., Fillion L., Truchon G., Dionne C., Arsenault B., Viau C., Côté D.

Determinants of chronic disability related to low back pain: structural equation modeling of an integrative model
in Amsterdam International Forum VIII - Primary Care Research on Low-Back Pain, (June 8-10, 2006 : Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2006.

Truchon M., Truchon G., Viau C., Fillion L., Dionne C., Arsenault B., Leblond J., Côté D.

The awakening cortisol response among workers on sick leave for low back pain
in Work, Stress, and Health 2006 : Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Occupational Stress & Health (6th : March 2-4, 2006 : Miami, USA), 2006.

Truchon M., Fillion L., Truchon G., Dionne C., Arsenault B., Viau C.

Determinants of low-back pain disability among workers
in International Forum VI for Primary Care Research on Low Back Pain (May 22-24, 2003 : Linköping, Sweden), 2003, p. 59.

Truchon M., Fillion L., Gélinas C.

Validation of a French Canadian version of the Organizational Policies and Practices (OPP) Questionnaire
Work : A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, vol. 20, no 2, 2003, p. 111-119.

Truchon M., Fillion L., Truchon G., Dionne C., Arsenault B., Viau C.

Determinants of chronic disability: A longitudinal prospective study of disabled workers with low back pain
in Quality Care in Low-Back Pain : How many does it take to tango? : Montreal International Forum V for Primary Care Research on Low back pain (5th : May, 10-11, 2002 : Montreal, Canada), 2002.