Monitoring spinal movement relating to back pain.

Abstract

Sickness absence from work due to back pain is a major cause of industrial absenteeism. Attempts have, therefore, been made to show a cause and effect relationship between a person's work and back pain. To succeed, such studies require the recording of a number of parameters related to the subject and the work load for long periods. Using a miniature four-channel analogue tape recorder for this purpose, spinal movement was observed, and the practicability of the technique for this type of investigation was demonstrated.