Occupational & public health
Low Back Pain (LBP)
Pain between the lower rib margin and the buttock crease, with or without leg pain — the leading cause of disability worldwide, strongly linked to work-related ergonomic factors.
Definition
Low back pain is discomfort in the posterior region of the back from the lower margin of the twelfth rib to the inferior gluteal folds, with or without radiating leg pain. It is the leading cause of disability globally: an estimated 619 million people were affected in 2020, projected to reach 843 million by 2050, with work-related ergonomic factors, obesity and smoking as key risk factors.
References
619 million cases in 2020, 843 million by 2050, risk factors, productivity impact
clinical definition, occupational ergonomic drivers
Overview
What it means
Most cases are non-specific (no identifiable structural cause). Occupational drivers include heavy lifting, awkward postures, vibration and prolonged sitting; low back pain forces more working-age people out of employment than any other chronic condition.
How it is used
In sustainability reporting it appears as a leading occupational health burden and driver of lost workdays; ergonomics programmes, manual handling controls and return-to-work schemes target it.
Why it matters
Low back pain carries enormous social and economic cost through lost productivity, disability and healthcare use, making prevention central to decent work and healthy workforce agendas.
Review
Public comments appear only after editor acceptance. Draft comments stay in the review queue.
Reviewers choose the definition or an overview paragraph, leave a comment or replacement, and attach evidence or a source link.
Editors compare reviewer cards side by side. AI may help find agreement, conflicts, unsupported claims and possible source issues.
Only an editor-accepted synthesis changes the public page. Reviewer identities are shown only with consent and an editorial decision to attribute them.
Submitted reviews stay private until an editor decides whether to accept and attribute them.
Contribute to this entry
Help improve this definition
Your contribution is private while it is checked. Nothing changes on this page unless an editor accepts it.
Loading verified endorsements… Endorsements are not votes and never determine publication.
Endorse this definition
Endorse the exact version shown here. This is not a vote, and publication remains an editorial decision.
Review board
Comment on a specific line. Each reviewer stays separate until an editor accepts a merged draft.
Each person comments on the definition or overview in their own draft card, with role, evidence and suggested wording kept together.
AI can compare comments against the current text, flag conflicting claims, surface missing evidence and identify where reviewers agree.
An editor merges compatible suggestions into a draft change, checks sources, records disagreements and decides what can be published.