Low back pain accounts for one-third of all work-related disability, research has shown.

Earlier this week, a new study revealed that low back pain is the biggest cause of disability worldwide. Those findings were based on an analysis of a major global study that examined ill health and disability caused by all conditions in 187 countries during three time periods - 1990, 2005 and 2010.

Australian researchers used the same study to assess the impact of low back pain when it came to work-related disability.

They found that low back pain accounted for one in three cases of work-related disability, with those working in the agricultural sector, and those aged between 35 and 65, most at risk.

Problems with low back pain were most apparent in jobs that required lifting, awkward positions, forceful movement and vibration.

Men were more often affected than women and the problem was most prevalent in places were agricultural work was more common, such as Asia and parts of Africa.

Overall, people working in agriculture were nearly four times more likely to develop low back pain disability compared to people working in other sectors.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.