Quantification of overload injuries to thoracolumbar vertebrae and discs in persons exposed to heavy physical exertions or vibration at the work-place The shape of vertebrae and intervertebral discs - study of a young, healthy population and a middle-aged control group.

The ongoing search for causes (and strategies for prevention) of low back trouble in sub-groups of the population exposed to heavy physical exertions or whole body vibration requires reliable data on the prevalence of lower-spine overload damage. Because published reports on this topic are rare and mostly qualitative, the present study was initiated to assess, objectively and quantitatively, overload damage to vertebrae and intervertebral discs. Part I of the work has involved the establishment of a normative database of shape parameters from measurements of 683 (539 male, 144 female) lateral radiographic views of the thoracolumbar spine of young (17-30 years), healthy subjects.

An improved method of stature measurement for quantitative determination of spinal loading. Application to sitting postures and whole body vibration.

A refined procedure for measuring stature is described; this provides a reproducibility error of 0.4 mm. The procedure accommodates the natural diurnal change in stature and permits estimation of the net stature change caused by a change in spinal loading.

Back pain in Grand Prix drivers: a 'found' experiment.

The 'found' experiment uses a natural change in conditions to investigate the possible effects of those conditions. In this case, the natural change was reduction in stiffness of Grand Prix suspensions between 1982 and 1983. The effects of this change on back pain in drivers were investigated and it was found that both the incidence and severity of back pain decreased significantly.