STUDY OF LOW BACK PAIN AMONG NURSES WORKING IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Abstract

Background: Possibility of healthcare personnel to encounter occupational risks varies according to their profession, job and the department in which they work. Nursing is accepted as a stressful profession with work overload due to several negative factors (overwork, overtime and long working hours, role conict and ambiguity, problems with shift work etc.) arising from work circumstances. Healthcare workers are at a higher risk of developing low back pain due to a variety of factors. This problem is associated with major consequences in terms of disability and frequent absence. LBP might lead to activity limitation and sick leaves for more than 50 % of the nurses. This study aims to assess the prevalence and risk factors of LBP among nurses in a tertiary care center. 1. To determine the fre Objectives: quency of low back pain and associated factors among nurses working in a tertiary care hospital 2. To assess the level of functional disability due to low back pain. A cross-sectional study Methodology: was conducted on 125 nurses, aged between 25 and 60 years, who had been working for at least 1 year at CPR Hospital Kolhapur (Maharashtra). Both male and female staff nurses were included in the study. Those who were pregnant and who were not willing to participate were excluded from the study. A self-administered Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability questionnaire which was applied to obtain data from the respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used. The baseline characteristics were presented as mean with standard deviation or frequencies and percentages whichever appropriate. The determinants of low back pain and knowledge on body mechanics were found using Chi-square. P value <0.05 is considered signicant at 95% condence interval. In the present study, out Results: of 125 participants, 56% were aged 31 to 40 years. Mean age was 32.68±7.32 years. There was female preponderance with 82.4. 71.2% had LBP. Based on Oswestry LBP Disability (OLBPD) Score, 28.8% were found to be free from any disability, 50.4% had minimal, 18.4%) had moderate and only 3 nurses had severe disability. Association was signicant between higher age groups, history of caesarian (44.9%), no history of exercise (53.9%), designation of staff nurse (91.0%), physical exertion during work (92.1%), > 10 years of work experience (43.8%), attending >50 patients per day (22.5%), standing time > 5 hours in duty hours (82.0%) were found to be signicantly associated with LBP (all p values <0.05).