Abstract
Background: Lower back pain (LBP) is a common occupational issue that is affecting individuals across all professions, with health care workers being particularly vulnerable due to the physical demands of their work. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the burden is seen spiking due to the limited resources, poor ergonomic practices and high patient care demands especially in understaffed health facilities. In South Africa, healthcare workers particularly nurses have reported LBP that relates to manual patient handling, long hours which has posed a major occupational health threat to the countries health system.
Aim: The study aimed to figure out the prevalence and identify risk factors associated with LBP among healthcare workers in a community health centre.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare workers (n=189) employed at Mfundo Arnold Lushaba Community health centre. Study participants were selected using simple random sampling techniques. Respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographics, work-related factors, and general health to find the prevalence and risk factors of lower back pain in this population. Data was cleaned in Microsoft excel package and then exported to SPSS package for further analysis. Cross tabulations were obtained with frequencies and percentages for description. Chi-squared, t-test and multivariate analysis were conducted to identify risk factors associated with LBP. P-values less than or equal to 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: The point prevalence of low back pain was 33.2% (n=62 out of 187 participants). Multivariate analysis revealed that Low Back Pain (LBP) was significantly associated with previous history of LBP (OR=2.83, p<0.001), running (OR=2.99, p=0.018), diabetes (OR=5.18, p=0.026), lifting (OR=2.39, p=0.006), and perceived occupational stress (OR=12.03). These findings highlight the importance of addressing these risk factors to prevent and manage LBP.
Conclusion: The study shows a substantial burden of LBP among healthcare workers with one third of the participants affected. The finding found previous LBP history, diabetes, and high workplace stress as the most significant risk factors, with stressed workers being 12 times more likely to experience LBP. The high prevalence of LBP
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among workers performing heavy lifting duties and combined with the widespread lack of ergonomic equipment. These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive workplace interventions, including ergonomic improvements, stress management programs, targeted health screenings, and mandatory training initiatives.