Prevalence and Risk Factors of Low Back Pain Among the Office Workers of King Edward Medical University Lahore, Pakistan

Purpose: In the present era, Low Back Pain (LBP) is a destructive health problem. It affects many people and accounts for huge economic loss. Office workers have a unique lifestyle while working in sedentary position with poor body posture for long periods of time. The musculoskeletal problems can result in inconvenience or pain with bad impact on the quality of life. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done to find the prevalence and risk factors of LBP among the office workers of King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore, Pakistan. After taking the ethical approval from Institutional Review Board (IRB), KEMU, Lahore, a sample size of 300 office workers was calculated by using proportion formula of sample size estimation with 5% margin of error from KEMU with effect from Jan 2015 to Sep 2015. Participants aged between 18 and 60 years with at least 1 year work experience completed the validated questionnaires. Results: Results showed that point and lifetime prevalence of LBP among office workers of KEMU, Lahore, Pakistan was 29.20% and 69.20%, respectively. LBP prevalence rose with the increase in age, work experience, low education, low physical activity, sleep disturbance, smoking habit, more sitting and standing time, computer use, and low job satisfaction. Conclusion: We concluded that different individual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors were associated with LBP. Because of high prevalence of LBP among office workers of this university, better ergonomic facilities and awareness about sitting posture, regular exercise, good sleep, and psychological support to the workers were recommended to decrease the effects of predisposing risk factors of LBP.