Back Belts Worn at Work Not
Effective
The above was the conclusion of a study published in the December
6, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA).
The report in JAMA started off by noting that usage of these devices is
becoming more common. "Despite scientific uncertainties about
effectiveness, wearing back belts in the hopes of preventing costly and
disabling low back injury in employees is becoming common in the
workplace."
The study interviewed 9377 employees from 160 stores.
Of those stores in the study, 89 required back-belt use and 71 had
voluntary belt use. The study would then track the incidence rate of
material-handling back injury workers compensation claims as well as a
6-month incidence rate of self-reported low back pain among the workers.
The conclusion of the study was clear. As explained by the
JAMA article, "In the largest prospective cohort study of back
belt use, adjusted for multiple individual risk factors, neither frequent
back belt use nor a store policy that required belt use was associated
with reduced incidence of back injury claims or low back pain."
In simpler terms, these belts do not work to prevent the problems for
which they were designed.
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