Evaluation of Occurrences of Low Back Pain among Health Care Workers in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Abstract

Low Back Pain is a common musculoskeletal health condition that affects 50 to 80 per cent of people at some point during their lifetime. It is said to be one of the leading causes of activity restriction and job loss worldwide, imposing enormous financial hardship on individuals, families, communities, corporations, and governments. It is a widespread and challenging problem among healthcare workers that might have a significant impact on the lives of other colleagues they work with. The present study investigated the occurrences of low back pain among healthcare workers at the University of Port Harcourt (UPTH), Nigeria. The study population comprised all 2424 healthcare workers in UPTH from which 334 were used following the application of the Krejcie and Morgan sampling technique. The methodology used was a descriptive research design. A research questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation aided by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. The study consequently revealed a high prevalence of low back pain (81%) among healthcare workers in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and that the physical work environment might contribute to the occurrences of low back pain. There was a negative relationship between general health conditions and the occurrence of low back pain in healthcare workers in UPTH (R2 = -0.61). There was a relationship between the years of engagement at work of the healthcare workers and the occurrence of low back pain with a chi-square value of 313.655; however, there was no relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics and the prevalence of low back pain among healthcare workers in UPTH. The study concludes that prolonged sitting or standing without ergonomic breaks can increase the risk of occurrence of low back pain. The study recommends the provision of ergonomic breaks for healthcare workers in UPTH in addition to regular health examinations to improve the general health conditions of healthcare workers. Education and training courses on back care ergonomics and patient transfer should be regularly implemented and reviewed for healthcare workers.