A controlled trial of an educational program to prevent low back injuries.

Evaluated an educational program (L. H. Daltroy et al, 1993) to prevent low back injury (LBI) in a randomized, controlled trial. The intervention was taught by experienced physical therapists who trained 2,534 postal workers and 134 supervisors in a 2-session back school (3 hrs training) followed by 3–4 reinforcement sessions over the succeeding few years. Injured Ss from the intervention and control groups were randomized a 2nd time to receive training or no training after their return to work. Over 5.5 yrs of follow-up, 360 Ss reported LBIs and 75 Ss were injured again after their return to work. Comparison of the intervention and control groups found that the education program did not reduce the rate of LBI, the median cost per injury, the time off from work per injury, the rate of related musculoskeletal injuries or the rate of repeated injury after return to work. Only the Ss' knowledge of safe behavior was increased by the training. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)