Prevalence of low back pain and its associated factors among physiotherapists in Dhaka city of Bangladesh in 2016

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the major public health issues among health care professionals, especially among the physiotherapists. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of LBP among Bangladeshi physiotherapists and its associated factors. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 130 physiotherapists practicing in Dhaka city. Hospitals, clinics and private chambers, and the respondents were selected conveniently (on invitation those who were agreed to participate). Verbal rating score was used to evaluate the severity of pain where the respondents also asked the necessary questions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a researcher-administered structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and comparative (chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis) statistics were done using SPSS software. Results: Men respondents were dominator [n: 85 (65.4%)], and the mean ± standard deviation of age and body mass index (BMI) of all of the respondents were 31.1 ± 7.1 years and 23.5 ± 2.9 kg/m2, respectively. Study found three in every five [n: 79 (60.8%); 95% of confidence interval (CI): 52.4-69.2] physiotherapists suffered from LBP. Lack of maintenance of correct posture, most frequent posture during practice and absence of lumber support on chair were found significantly associated factors with LBP among physiotherapists. Conclusion: Current study clearly revealed a higher proportion of Bangladeshi physiotherapists were suffering from LBP, which was associated with lack of maintenance of correct posture, most frequent postures during practice and absence of lumber support on chair.