Assessment of knowledge on preventing acute and chronic low-back pain in the Marseille firefighting.

Objective Lumbago/low-back pain is the first cause of morbidity and incapacity work-related in the world. Its social and economical weight is considerable. In the armies, since 2009, lumbago is the object of a prevention plan. Therefore, we sought to determinate knowledge levels of Marseille Marine fire fighters about primary and secondary prevention. Material/patients and methods It's a transverse, descriptive, observational study concerning a representative sample of French military population from Marseille Marine firefighter's battalion, between September 25th 2014 and October 24th 2014. All the volunteers that answered the call, were included regardless of their gender, age, rank, length of service or job. The information gathering was carried out thanks to an anonymous questionnaire. Results were transcribed under the shape of a score, revealing knowledge level of pooled people about prevention. Results Two hundred and thirty-six people were included. The point prevalence of lumbago is 20%. The median age of the occurrence of lumbago is 29.7 years. The median EVA (analog visual scale to estimate pain) is 3 over 10, the HAD or “Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale” is mainly non-symptomatic, QUEBEC score is 13.5, FABQ physical activity score is 15 and FABQ work score is 17. Primary prevention score is “good knowledge”. Secondary prevention score is “unsatisfactory knowledge”. Only a physician's intervention can improve prevention scores. Discussion - conclusion Even if Marine fire fighters constitute a population witch physical risk factor is low, they have a high risk to develop lumbago. The main cause is certainly professional exposure. A good knowledge about primary prevention means doesn’t seem to decrease lumbago incidence. For the people that have already suffered of lumbago, knowledge of secondary prevention means stills unsatisfactory. A lot of people don’t use the prevention means. This is why it's important to multiply means of information dissemination and insist on approved prevention means, but also on noxious effects of some therapeutics.