Risk Factors Associated with Neck Pain in Male Military Personnel: A Case-Control Study

Background and Aim: Neck pain is a common disease and a relatively early disorder among military personnel. Neck pain causes disability, reduced quality of life, productivity, combat readiness of forces, and increased health care costs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors associated with neck pain in male military Personnel. Methods: This study was a case-control study in which 200 Military Personnel with neck pain and 250 healthy men were assessed through simple nonprobability sampling. A three-part questionnaire (demographic, occupational and clinical information) was used with closed questions, NDI (Neck Disability Index), Job Related Physical Demands questionnaire (JRPD), Health Risk Appraisals questionnaire (HRA), tape measure and weight scale as a tool. For both groups, four questionnaires were used and obtained from them the personal, occupational and clinical information and the Performed tests during a meeting, and was evaluated the relationship between risk factors associated with neck pain in both groups. SPSS 18 software was used for data analysis. Also used were: Frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation, multiple variance analysis, and odds ratio. The significance level considered acceptable was 0.05. Results: The baseline demographic data (age, height, weight, work record) showed that the two groups (in the general variables studied) were similar and there was no statistically significant difference between them. Among the factors studied, there were positive significant relationship between neck pain with:  hard job titles (p = 0.010), prolong work experience (p = 0.002), heavy and continuous  physical activity (p = 0.011), exercises of neck - shoulders and shoulder belt (p = 0.002), movements associated with lifting a heavy load of more than 25 kg (p = 0.002), daily working hours (p = 0.007), deformity in dorsal and cervical spine (p = 0.002), movements with bending and righting (p = 0.002)and neck rotation (p = 0.005), movements accompanied with heavy load-displacement from the height above the shoulder (p = 0.002) and awkward posture (p = 0.004). Also there were negative significant relationship between neck pain with: attendance in exercise programs (P= 0.003), body mass index (p=0.025) education level (p = 0.003), smoking (p = 0.017), duration of neck pain (p = 0.002), history of neck pain (p =0.010) carrying heavy bags and objects by shoulder belt (p = 0.002), and duration of exercise in male military Personnel. Conclusion: The main risk factors associated with neck pain were: hard job titles, prolong work experience, heavy and continuous physical activity, exercises of the neck - shoulders and shoulder belt, movements associated with lifting a heavy load of more than 25, daily working hours, deformity in Dorsal and cervical spine, movements with flexion and extension and neck rotation, movements accompanied with heavy load-displacement from the height above the shoulder, high BMI, and awkward posture. Other variables were secondary risk factors associated with neck pain in male military personnel. It seems possible to reduce the amount of these factors by preventing new lesions or expanding them, and improving the level of military personnel efficiency.