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Physical and Social Factors Differentiating Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain Among Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise Workers in Japan : A Cross-Sectional Study

Tamekuni, Yurika ; Okuyama, Kenta LU ; Motohiro, Atsushi ; Shiratsuchi, Daijo ; Isomura, Minoru LU ; Abrahamsson, Linda LU ; Lindström, Martin LU ; Sundquist, Kristina LU and Abe, Takafumi LU (2026) In European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education 16(2).
Abstract

Low back pain is common and negatively impacts quality of life and workplace productivity. However, few studies have focused on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where risk factors are prevalent. This cross-sectional study examined the association and structural relationships between physical and social factors in low back pain among Japanese SME workers. We analyzed survey data collected between April 2021 and August 2022 from 762 SME workers aged 18–65 years in Shimane, Japan, to assess acute (less than 3 months) and chronic low back pain using a self-reported questionnaire. Workplace physical (physical load) and social (stress of interpersonal relations) factors were measured using a brief job stress-related questionnaire.... (More)

Low back pain is common and negatively impacts quality of life and workplace productivity. However, few studies have focused on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where risk factors are prevalent. This cross-sectional study examined the association and structural relationships between physical and social factors in low back pain among Japanese SME workers. We analyzed survey data collected between April 2021 and August 2022 from 762 SME workers aged 18–65 years in Shimane, Japan, to assess acute (less than 3 months) and chronic low back pain using a self-reported questionnaire. Workplace physical (physical load) and social (stress of interpersonal relations) factors were measured using a brief job stress-related questionnaire. Associations between workplace factors and acute and chronic low back pain were evaluated using multivariable, multinomial logistic regression. Among the 762 workers, 50.9% and 7.3% reported acute and chronic low back pain, respectively. The odds ratio (OR) for acute pain was 2.08 for ‘Very much so’ in those with a high physical load. Compared with those with low interpersonal stress, the OR for chronic pain was 2.20 for medium stress and 2.82 for high stress. Reducing physical workloads may mitigate acute low back pain, while lowering interpersonal stress at work may reduce chronic low back pain. Future studies should investigate whether improving workplace physical and social factors is longitudinally effective.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
chronic pain, employees, interpersonal relations, labor management, physical load, social support
in
European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education
volume
16
issue
2
article number
17
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • pmid:41745060
  • scopus:105031285380
ISSN
2174-8144
DOI
10.3390/ejihpe16020017
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2026 by the authors.
id
0e4df5b1-674c-447c-983e-7026b2ee7de2
date added to LUP
2026-04-21 14:04:56
date last changed
2026-05-19 15:50:43
@article{0e4df5b1-674c-447c-983e-7026b2ee7de2,
  abstract     = {{<p>Low back pain is common and negatively impacts quality of life and workplace productivity. However, few studies have focused on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where risk factors are prevalent. This cross-sectional study examined the association and structural relationships between physical and social factors in low back pain among Japanese SME workers. We analyzed survey data collected between April 2021 and August 2022 from 762 SME workers aged 18–65 years in Shimane, Japan, to assess acute (less than 3 months) and chronic low back pain using a self-reported questionnaire. Workplace physical (physical load) and social (stress of interpersonal relations) factors were measured using a brief job stress-related questionnaire. Associations between workplace factors and acute and chronic low back pain were evaluated using multivariable, multinomial logistic regression. Among the 762 workers, 50.9% and 7.3% reported acute and chronic low back pain, respectively. The odds ratio (OR) for acute pain was 2.08 for ‘Very much so’ in those with a high physical load. Compared with those with low interpersonal stress, the OR for chronic pain was 2.20 for medium stress and 2.82 for high stress. Reducing physical workloads may mitigate acute low back pain, while lowering interpersonal stress at work may reduce chronic low back pain. Future studies should investigate whether improving workplace physical and social factors is longitudinally effective.</p>}},
  author       = {{Tamekuni, Yurika and Okuyama, Kenta and Motohiro, Atsushi and Shiratsuchi, Daijo and Isomura, Minoru and Abrahamsson, Linda and Lindström, Martin and Sundquist, Kristina and Abe, Takafumi}},
  issn         = {{2174-8144}},
  keywords     = {{chronic pain; employees; interpersonal relations; labor management; physical load; social support}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education}},
  title        = {{Physical and Social Factors Differentiating Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain Among Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise Workers in Japan : A Cross-Sectional Study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe16020017}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ejihpe16020017}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}