Last Updated: 2003-02-20 15:56:56 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While repeated heavy lifting and straining can indeed increase the risk of job-related back pain, new research suggests that an unpleasant workplace environment can also damage workers' backs.

Dr. Janet M. Johnston and her colleagues discovered that people who are unhappy at work and are forced to work under intense and hectic conditions are more likely to feel back pain than others.

These findings suggest that managers who want to take the health of their employees into consideration need to focus on both the physical and the psychological risks of pain, Johnston said.

"We found that (psychological risks of back pain) were just as important as the physical side," Johnston told Reuters Health.

"You need to look both at the physical and the psychosocial aspect of the environment" in order to protect employees, she added.

Although creating a calmer, more relaxed environment for employees may cost money or sacrifice productivity, Johnston noted that treating back pain is an extremely expensive venture, and companies shell out mega-bucks for health insurance and workers' compensation.

"I think there really is motivation for the employers to do something. And a lot of people want to," the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania researcher said.

During the study, Johnston and her colleagues conducted two interviews, six months apart, with 6,311 employees of 160 stores who had "material handling" responsibilities, meaning they would receive and unload deliveries, stock the store, or manage departments.

During the interviews, the researchers asked workers about their social and psychological environment at work, whether they had experienced lower back pain within the previous six months, and, if so, how severe was the pain.

After removing the influence of previous back injury and on-the-job lifting on reports of workplace back pain, the researchers discovered that the quality of the workers' environments influenced their risk of back pain.

For instance, people at jobs where they had to work hard and concentrate for long stretches had a higher risk of reporting back pain, as did those in hectic environments that were often disrupted by outside factors.

The researchers report their findings in the February issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Johnston explained in an interview that people who feel as if they don't have control over their work environment or who feel unhappy with their work may feel more stress. This stress, in turn, could increase tension in their bodies and cause them to carry themselves in a way that increases their risk of injury.

Furthermore, people who work hard for long periods and are often asked to switch tasks may spend a lot of time physically jerking their back, which can also lead to injuries, she noted.

Since she and her colleagues measured back pain based on a workers' memory of pain, Johnston noted that it's also possible that people who are less happy at the workplace may be more likely than others to remember back pain and report it.