Anthropometric and clinical measures as predictors of back pain complaints in industry: a prospective study.

A prospective, longitudinal investigation was conducted to investigate anthropometric and clinical examination measures as predictors of future back pain reports in industry. Associations between these measures and a history of back problems were examined as well. Participants in the study included 3,020 aircraft manufacturing employees who underwent an examination and then were tracked for greater than 4 years for subsequent back pain reports. Back symptoms elicited on straight leg raising (SLR) was the measure most significantly associated with subsequent back pain reporting among both men and women (p less than 0.0001). The only variables to add predictive value in addition to back pain on SLR were age and weight in women, and history of back problems and age in men.