Table 1 Background characteristics, exposure and outcome measures of the study population stratified by occupational sector

Gender, (female)

58(42.3)

1(1.5)

57(79.2)

<0.001

Age, (years)

41.8(12)

40(13.2)

42.3(10.8)

0.086

BMI, (kg/m²)

25.5(3.8)

25.6(3.4)

25.5(4.2)

0.379

V̇O_2max, (ml/min/kg), n = 126

34.9(10.5)

37.8(10.5)

32.2(9.9)

<0.001

Strength (kg), median/range

43.5(24–77)

53(28–77)

33.5(24–67)

<0.001

Total

71(51.8)

32(49.2)

39(54.2)

0.564

 Low back

37(27)

14(21.5)

23(31.9)

0.171

 Neck

31(22.6)

9(13.8)

22(30.6)

0.020

 Shoulders

53(38.7)

24(36.9)

29(40.3)

0.639

Part of working day with lifting in awkward positions

0.787

 Very little/not at all

91(66.4)

40(61.5)

51(70.8)

 ¼

31(22.6)

16(24.6)

15(20.8)

 ½

9(6.6)

4(6.2)

5(6.9)

 ¾

4(2.9)

3(4.6)

1(1.4)

 Almost all time

2(1.5)

2(3.1)

0(0)

Supportive and encouraging

0.578

 Very little/not at all

2(1.5)

1(1.5)

1(1.4)

 Fairly small

5(3.7)

1(1.5)

4(5.7)

 Somewhat

23(17)

14(21.5)

9(12.9)

 Fairly much

75(55.6)

40(61.5)

35(50)

 Very much

30(22.2)

9(13.8)

12(30)

Smoking (yes)

39(28.3)

20(30.8)

19(26.4)

0.570

Light physical activity (hours per week)

0.399

 0

6 (4.3)

3 (4.6)

3 (4.2)

 Less than 1

14 (10.1)

4 (6.2)

10(13.9)

 1–2

36 (26.1)

20 (30.8)

16 (22.2)

 3 or more

61 (44.2)

29 (44.6)

32 (44.4)

Hard physical activity (hours per week)

0.677

 0

13 (9.4)

7 (10.8)

6 (8.3)

 Less than 1

26 (18.8)

10 (15.4)

16 (22.2)

 1–2

42 (30.4)

18 (27.7)

24 (33.3)

 3 or more

39 (28.3)

20 (30.8)

19 (26.4)