I heard on the radio there was a study that showed people who don’t drink don’t live as long as people who do drink. Then I saw a blurb on MSN that a study in Denmark also showed nondrinkers with low back pain were less likely to go back to work. I have low back pain and still work in spite of it. Are they suggesting I start drinking more to live longer and keep my job? That just doesn’t make sense to me.

The first study you mentioned about drinkers outliving nondrinkers has raised more than a few eyebrows. You can be sure that the study will be scrutinized carefully by experts in order to understand the significance of the reported findings. Study design, statistical methods used, and even who financially backed the study will be examined.

The study from Denmark was designed to look for risk factors for workers on sick-leave that might predict who would be able to get back to work. They studied 325 men and women who were off work for at least three weeks (and up to 16 weeks) with either just back pain or back and leg pain. Leg pain signifies nerve irritation called radiculopathy. The underlying cause of the pain was disc degeneration (confirmed by X-rays and MRI).

The authors were particularly interested in breaking down the results to look at the link between disability and pain after one year, just disability at one year, change in disability during the same year-long follow-up, and change in back and leg pain. They also looked at how many patients were able to go back to work and percentages for each group (back pain only, back and leg pain).

After studying dozens of variables, they noticed worry and anxiety seems to play a key role in patients’ perceptions (how they view themselves). Behavioral or cognitive therapy might be helpful. Being older and overweight were two factors present in patients who did not return-to-work at all.

Older adults and those who don’t drink were also more likely to experience continued disability a year after treatment for low back pain. Does that mean workers still on sick-leave for low back pain after a year should drink more?

Probably not. It’s more likely an indication that their level of stress, anxiety, and mental distress is higher than in patients who drink more. The authors suggest that there may be a biologic explanation for this difference. Either way, more study is needed to understand the association between alcohol, disability, and return-to-work before specific recommendations are made.