Table 1 outlines the findings of employment social support for risk and prognosis for the included studies. Table 1 Outcomes of low levels see more of employment social support on risk and prognosis for back pain Outcome Study Study quality  (%) Strong support Moderate support Weak support No support Risk of occurrence for back pain Andersen et al. 100       × (SS, CWS) Clays et al. 79     + (GWS males) × (GWS females) Elfering et al. 64       × (GWS) Feuerstein et al.

85     + (SS)   Fransen et al. 50       × (GWS) Ghaffari et al. 64       × (GWS) Gheldof et al. 86       × (GWS) Gonge et al. 79       × (GWS) Harkness et al. 64       × (GWS) Hoogendoorn et al. 71       × (CWS, SS) Ijzelenberg and Burdorf 79 + (SS)     × (CWS) Josephson and this website Vingard 78       × (GWS) Kaila-Kangas et al. 64 + (SS)     × (CWS) Kerr et al. 92   − (CWS)     Krause et al. 86       × (CWS, SS) Larsman and Hanse 64       × (GWS) Leino and Hanninen 71   + (GWS)     Rugulies and Krause 93       × (CWS, SS) Shannon et al. 79       × (GWS) Stevenson et al. 50 + (CWS)       Return to work/recovery Dionne et al. 93       × (GWS) Gheldof et al. 86       × (GWS) Helmhout et al. 79       × (CWS,

SS) Heymans et al. find more 86     + (GWS)   Karlsson et al. 79       × (GWS) Lotters and Burdorf 71       × (GWS) Mielenz et al. 78   + (CWS)   × (SS) Morken et al. 78     + (GWS short term absence) × (GWS long term absence) Schultz et

al. 86   − (CWS)     Soucy et al. 79     + (GWS)   Tubach et al. 86 + (GWS, long term absence)     × (GWS, short term absence) van der Giezen et al. 79     + (GWS)   van den Heuvel et al. 79 + (CWS)     × (SS) LBP Low back pain, SS supervisor support, CWS Co-worker support, GWS General work Selleckchem Fludarabine support, + positive association, − negative association, × (no association) Employment social support and risk of occurrence of back pain In total, 20 studies report on 27 findings on the association of employment social support and occurrence of back pain. Of those findings, 20 reported no significant associations, one reported a strong reverse effect (a greater level of employment support increased the risk of back pain) and six reported an effect whereby lower levels of employment support increased the risk of back pain (Table 1). Of those six findings, three were judged as weak associations, one of moderate strength and two judged as strong effects. Co-worker support (CWS) Seven studies were included within this analysis, six of those studies reporting no effect (Andersen et al. 2007; Hoogendoorn et al. 2001; Ijzelenberg and Burdorf 2005; Kaila-Kangas et al. 2004; Krause et al. 1998; Rugulies and Krause 2005) and one study reporting a reverse effect of higher CWS increasing the risk of LBP (Kerr et al. 2001).