An evaluation of low back injury development during variable and consistent compression loading using a nonlinear weighting adjustment approach

Nonlinear weighting adjustments were implemented to study low back injury potential associated with variable compression exposures. This in vitro study exposed porcine spinal units to cyclic compression paradigms that had consistent and variable peak amplitudes until failure was detected. When weighted, the tolerated compression was similar between consistent and variable protocols, despite being significantly different when unweighted. Therefore, weighting factors appear to be an important equalization tool when evaluating cumulative exposures and injury risk during repetitive occupational tasks.