Effectiveness of a Seat Pad in Reducing Back Pain in Long-Distance Drivers Deployed to Kuwait, October 2008-May 2009

Abstract : The Skydex(R) seat pad was tested to see if it could reduce low back pain (LBP) among drivers performing long-distance driving missions from Kuwait into Iraq. One group of military drivers received the seat pads (SP group), while another did not (NSP group). Questionnaires were administered before the seat pads were issued and about 6 months after the seat pads were issued. Soldiers also completed a survey after each driving mission that asked them to rate their back pain (1O-point scale, 1= low pain, 10=extreme pain) before and after their driving missions. The study initially included 53 NSP Soldiers and 45 SP Soldiers, but loss to follow-up resulted in 13 NSP Soldiers and 43 SP Soldiers available for analysis. Questionnaire responses before and after issuing the seat pads indicated that more NSP Soldiers reported LBP in the 6-month period after the seat pads were issued (intervention period) compared with the 6-month period before the seat pads were issued (preintervention period). In contrast, more Soldiers in the SP group reported LBP during the pre-intervention period (compared with the NSP group), but during the intervention period, that number declined or remained the same. On the mission surveys, the NSP group doubled their subjective rating of back pain after the missions (2.4?1.7 to 4.9?2.2), while the SP group had identical before and after mission ratings (3.0?2.7 versus 3.0?2.8) (interaction p<0.01).

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