Investigating association between job stress dimensions and prevalence of low back pain among hospital nurses.

Abstract

There are a few studies conducted on job stress dimensions and their relationship with Low Back Pain (LBP) among Iranian nurses. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association between job stress dimensions assessed via Demand-Control-Social Support (DCS) and Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) models and prevalence of LBP among Iranian hospital nurses. In this cross-sectional study, 495 randomly selected nurses of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) participated. Demographic/occupational questionnaire, the Persian version of the Job Content Questionnaire (P-JCQ) and the Persian version of the ERI Questionnaire (P-ERIQ) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 19) using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and logistic regression. The LBP prevalence was found to be 69.9%. The means±standard deviations of job stress dimensions were obtained as follows: decision latitude: 64.67±6.82, physical job demands: 15.52±2.6, social support: 23.18±3.65, psychological job demands: 38.02±4.98, effort: 8.73±2.62, reward: 23.12±5.31, over-commitment: 12.25±3.09, and effort-reward ratio: 0.86±0.3. The findings revealed that the work experience (OR = 1.56), psychological job demands (OR = 1.082), and effort-reward ratio (OR = 3.43) were predictors for LBP among the study population. The prevalence rate of LBP among studied nurses was high. About half of nurses had high psychological demands, low decision latitude and low social support. Based on the effort-reward ratio, nurses had experienced high level of stress. Interventional programs and coping strategies for reduction of work-related stress and, subsequently, prevention of LBP are recommended among hospital nurses.