The evaluation of low back pain and perceived stress among prehospital emergency care workers

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Abstract Background Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common musculoskeletal system complaints in Prehospital Emergency Care workers consisting of paramedics, emergency medical technicians and doctors. Since their high stress job also includes physical work, such as lifting and bending, it's important to address the LBP. The aim of the study was to evaluate the low back pain and perceived stress in prehospital emergency care workers. Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted on Eskişehir prehospital emergency care workers in 2020. The study group consisted of 372 (77.5%) personnels out of 480. The questionnaire form included sociodemographics, factors related to low back pain, Back Pain Functional Scale (BPFS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Scoring high on BPFS implies function loss due to LBP while it means high stress for PSS. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis and Spearman correlation analyses were used to determine the relationship between the variables. Results Females made up 55.1% of the 372 participants. The mean age was 32.15±7.5 and it ranged from 18 to 60. In the study group, 280 (75.3%) reported to have low back pain. Among those with LBP, 133 (47.5%) stated that they have had LBP for less than 5 years, 194 (69.2%) workers reported lifting is the most common reason for their LBP and 158 (56.4%) expressed that they've seen a doctor to deal with the LBP. The prehospital emergency care workers scored between 5 and 60 from BPFS, the median score was 49.0 while the mean was 45.74±12.09. There was a weak negative correlation between perceived stress and BPFS (R=-0.187, p < 0.001). Conclusions LBP was a common complaint among prehospital emergency care workers. Those who are older than 30, have chronical disease(s), had a family history of LBP, had an injury/trauma, had LBP for more than 5 years and those who worked 24 hour shifts scored less on the FBPS implying a funcionality loss due to LBP. Key messages Prehospital emergency care workers are overworked and it takes a toll on both mental and body health. Educating the workers to create a better understanding on lifting and bending may help them with low back pain.