Risk Factors of Developing Lumbar Disc Herniation in Armenia: a case-control study

Abstract

Background: Disc herniation is the protrusion of the disc beyond its natural borders. The most common symptom of the lumbar disc herniation is low back pain which could radiate into the leg. Low back pain is the second most common cause of disabilities and the leading cause of job related disability. Objective: The main objective of the study was investigation of the risk factor of lumbar disc herniation. Methods: Study had a retrospective unmatched case-control design. Data for the study was obtained through telephone interviews. The developed instrument was adopted from the validated MUSIC questionnaire used in Sweden for the MUSIC-Nortallje study. The study population was patients from Michaelyan Institute of Surgery who underwent surgery from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. Simple and multiple logistic regressions were used for the analyses. Results: The analysis of the data obtained through interview from 113 cases and 115 controls was done, and several risk factors for development of lumbar disc herniation were identified. The most important risk factors associated with the development of lumbar disc herniation were the family history, lumbar load, height, work tempo and satisfaction with the working time. The OR for the association between family history and development of lumbar disc herniation for the age group above 40 years old was 5.94 (95% CI: 1.04-34.10). For the lumbar load OR was 9.68 (95% CI: 2.91-32.18). Protective effect of moderate exercise and sleeping on the hard bed were confirmed by the OR of 0.44 (95% CI: 0.25-0.87) and 0.23 (95% CI: 0.07-0.78) respectively. In addition, the study identified that a low BMI and being an athlete can be potential risk factors for the early development of lumbar disc herniation. Conclusions: Several factors associated with the development of lumbar disc herniation were identified including family history, lumbar load, sleeping on hard bed, work satisfaction and work tempo. Additional research is needed to investigate the specific aspects of work iv conditions leading to lumbar disc herniation and its incidence and prevalence in different populations such as athletes and different age groups.