Effectiveness of a back school program in the application of body mechanics principles.

BACKGROUND Low back pain is one of the most frequent work related injuries in all occupations. Back school programs are therapeutic interventions directed towards treatment, prevention and rehabilitation of backaches. The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the test-retest reliability of the modified version of the Body Mechanics Evaluation Checklist (BMEC) and (2) examine the effectiveness of a back school program in terms of application of body mechanics during a lifting task. METHODS A sample of 12 participants from a public corporation in Puerto Rico was selected to participate in a back school program. The modified and translated version of the American Back School Posttest and the modified version of the Body Mechanics Evaluation Checklist were used to evaluate the theoretical and practical component of the back school program. The test-retest reliability of the BMEC was obtained through the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC [3,1]). For pre/post assessment, a single factor repeated measures MANOVA was conducted to asses the effect of the intervention. RESULTS The test-retest reliability of the modified version of the BMEC was 0.84. The single factor repeated measures MANOVA revealed significant differences between pre-test and post-test (p < .0001) scores. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that the modified version of the BMEC is a reliable instrument to evaluate a lifting activity. It was also demonstrated that the back school program served as an effective educational intervention that promotes short-term changes in the body mechanics of back-injured working adults in Puerto Rico.