Prevalence and Risk Factors of Low Back Pain Related to Health Cost Among Health Workers: A Cross Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22317/imj.v8i3.1282Keywords:
Health Evaluation, occupational healthAbstract
Objective: Healthcare workers (HCWs) experience more individual and occupational health problem than other professional groups, the most common being low back pain (LBP). Furthermore, nurses are the majority of victims who worked in different aspects at hospital which have experience with LBP. The aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of low back pain related to health cost and its associated risk factors among healthcare workers at hospitals.
Methods: Cross sectional study, a convenience sampling technique was used comprising of 302 of hardcopy questionnaires that were distributed to healthcare workers in two tertiary hospitals in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq between March 2021 to June 2021. The data were analyzed by using descriptive analytical method and Chi-square.
Results: The result showed that most of the respondents (59.3%) had experienced low back pain, with (47%) reporting LBP in present and (55.3%) revealed LBP in past 12 months. The highest prevalence was reported by nurses and the lowest amongst physiotherapist. Prolonged bad posture and lifting heavy weights were the most contributing factors of LBP. Furthermore, cost of treatment (direct cost) was significantly association with LBP.
Conclusions: Preventive and control measures should be taken to reduce the risk of lower back pain, and also taking forward steps to diminish the incidence of occupational hazards. Therefore, our findings can help to establish policies, strategies, and appropriate interventions aimed to reduce the risk onset of LBP among health care professionals.
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