The Impact of Occupational Features On Radiological Staging of The Lumbar Disc Herniation

Background: Lumbar disc herniation may cause back and/or leg pain, sensory deficits, loss of strength, and even urinary and fecal incontinence. The relationship between lumbar disc herniation LDH and occupation was tried to be revealed through various studies. In this study, the association between the radiological stage of LDH on magnetic resonance imaging MRI and occupational features of the patients was evaluated. Materials and methods: Sociodemographic and occupational features were collected from medical files of 895 patients with lumbar disc hernia. The occupational groups consisted of housewives, construction workers, health care workers and teachers. Patients were divided into three groups according to the years spent at work as follows: 0-5 years, 5-10 years, 10-15 years and over 15 years. On MRI, LDH was classified as bulging, protrusion, extrusion and sequestration according to Macnab classification.Results: There was no statistically significant relationship between the radiological staging of LDH and occupation p=0.2 or gender p=0.4 . Increased advanced age and more working years had a significant association with the radiological staging of LDH p