Data from: Is age more than manual material handling associated with lumbar vertebral body and disc changes? A cross-sectional multicenter MRI study

Objective Conflicting evidence exists to what extent manual material
handling (MMH) causes lumbar disc disease, lack of evidence exist that
this effect takes place especially at L5-S1 level, where the greatest
moment occurs. The aim was to assess if lumbar vertebral body and disc
changes are more common in people whose job involves significant MMH and,
if so, to evaluate if lumbar vertebral body and disc changes are more
prevalent in the lower part of the lumbar spine (L4-L5 and L5-S1). Design
Observational, cross-sectional, with quasi-random recruitment. Setting
Outpatient radiology units of three large hospitals in northern (Bologna
and Brescia) and southern (Bari) Italy. Participants 183 consecutive adult
subjects (89 males, 94 females) aged 20-70 years referred by the General
Practitioner (GP) or a specialist for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of
the lumbar spine. Primary and secondary outcome measures:
Neuroradiologists (blind to clinical assessment) evaluated the prevalence
of intervertebral disc and vertebral body changes in standardized magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. History of personal and family
musculoskeletal diseases and injuries, current and past manual material
handling at work and during leisure time were assessed by interview and
self-administered questionnaire. Results Participants were classified
according their occupational exposure to MMH. No association was found
between MMH and vertebral body and intervertebral disc changes, whereas
age over 45 years was consistently associated with more DEBIT changes,
Pfirrmann changes, osteophytes and Modic changes: the association was
statistically significant at the conventional 5% level. Conclusions Age,
and not MMH, seems to primarily affect the presence of intervertebral disc
changes; prospective studies are needed to better explore the relationship
between MMH and the possible presence (and level) of lumbar vertebral body
and/or disc changes.