Parametri stabilometrici associati a disturbi muscoloscheletrici in un gruppo di vigili urbani [Stabilometric parameters associated with musculoskeletal diseases in a group of traffic policemen]

As reported by previous literature, the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders is high in population of local police officers, due to several risk factors, including awkward posture, jolt/vibrations and stress. The results of our study reveal that the most common musculoskeletal symptoms among local police officers are cervicobrachial pain, low back pain and sciatica. Low-back pain is associated with tasks exposing to awkward posture of the spine (traffic policemen and policemen involved in office-based duties); cervical and upper extremity disorders are related to the exposure to vibrations and to the upper limb posture held by motorcycle police. Among postural parameters, anterior scapular plane, flat back and Barre's vertical resulted possible predictive tests of adaptation of the postural system to the symptom pain in subjects with low back pain. In conclusion, it is necessary to adopt organizational, protective and preventive measures in order to occupational health of local police officers. They include: decrease of time periods during which an awkward posture is held, breaks between duties, prescription of ergonomic shoes, use of low-weight and low-volume duty-packs, and planning of periodical osteopathic check-ups as part of the health program, aimed to uncover initial postural alterations related to musculoskeletal disorders.