Does occupation have any effect on degree of cervical disc degeneration?

Does occupation have any effect on degree of cervical disc degeneration?

Aim: The occupational musculoskeletal system pain is generally divided into three groups. These are classified as poor posture work, high repetition speed movements during operation, compulsive and load-increasing movements.In this study, it was researched whether there is any relation between occupation and cervical disc degeneration.Materials:In this study, files of patients diagnosed with cervical disc degeneration on magnetic resonance imaging were reviewed retrospectively from July 2016 to September 2016 for patients with neck and/or arm pain at neurosurgery clinic of Bozok University.45 male and 55 female patients were included in the study.Age ranged from 25 to 65 years, and patients were divided into three age groups: 25-35 (group 1), 35-45 (group 2), and over 45 years (group 3).Occupations were identified as housewife (group 1), teacher (group 2) and health worker (group 3) in women.Occupations in men were assigned as construction workers (group 1), teachers (group 2), and health workers (group 3).The study year was organized as 0-5 years (group 1), 5-10 years (group 2), 10-15 years (group 3) and 15 years (group 4), respectively, with five years increasing in each group.The degree of degeneration in MRI was regulated as black disc bulging (group 1), protrusion (group 2), extrusion (group 3), and sequestration (4).The type of treatment was divided into conservative (group 1) and surgery (group 2) groups.Patients with diabetes, chronic liver disease, obesity, coronary heart disease, thyroid gland disorder, osteoporosis, ankylosing spondylitis, and severe trauma were not included in the study.Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the type of treatment and degree of disc degeneration. A similar effect was seen between working year and age. However, there was no significant differences except afromentioned ones. Conclusion: Some etiological factors have been suggested to play a role in the development of disk degeneration such as trauma, abnormal pressure distribution, age, smoking ,physical activities , familial history (genetic tendency), dibates mellitus ,atherosclerosis, obesity, and vascular diease. However, there is not clear consensus on this subject, several studies have indicated conflicting results with each other. In our study we observed that there is no relationship between the degree of cervical disc degeneration and occupation.   Key words: cervical disc degeneration,magnetic resonance imaging, occupation

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  • İskender Samet DALTABAN, MD Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery Bozok University, School of Medicine, Yozgat /TURKEY