Low Back Pain, Disability and Quality of Life in Nursing Personnel: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and Purpose: Low back pain (LBP) is a world health problem and a major cause of disability. Also, LBP is a major occupational problem among nursing staff. The study is to determine low back pain, disability, quality of life (QOL) and the associations between LBP with job-related risk factors and dimensions of QOL in nurses. Materials and Methods:  In this study cross-sectional descriptive-analytic approach, eligible nurses working in teaching hospitals affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences were enrolled through a census method. Data was obtained based on demographic questionnaire, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) and Health Survey SF-36 questionnaire collected. Data analysis (descriptive, logistic regression, spearman correlation) was used SPSS software version 23. Results: This study included 402 nurses with an average age of 36.47 ± 7.1 years and the mean year of employment 11.83 ± 6.4 years. The prevalence of low back pain was 86.3% and mean of pain intensity and disability were 4.8± 2.7 and 30.4± 17.4 respectively. The mean quality of life components such as physical and mental were 58.03 ± 19.6 and 57.42 ± 18.3 respectively. The factors that were significantly associated with low back pain were: BMI (p <.0001), frequent bending (p =.004) and workplace communication (p =.008). LBP effected on dimensions of QOL, especially physical functioning (p =.008), role physical (p =.02), general health (p <.0001) and social functioning (p =.03). Conclusion: This study evidenced the high prevalence of LBP among nurses and the role of individual and workplace factors in the genesis of LBP. Such cognition facilitates to design an educational program and undertake targeted preventive actions.