Prevalence of mechanical low back pain and risk factors among health care providers in cairo / Shorouk Mohamed Shabaan Ahmed ; Supervised Moshera H. Darwish , Heba A. Khalifa

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Physical Therapy for Neuromuscular and Neurosurgery

Background: Low back pain is a common cause of disability worldwide. Healthcare workers are particularly prone to it, because of the physical and emotional factors associated with their profession. Aim: To determine the prevalence, risk factors associated with LBP among healthcare workers in different Cairo hospitals (Educational hospitals, Police hospitals, Teaching hospitals, Health Insurance hospitals) in Cairo, Egypt. Subjects: Nine hundred participants from selected specialties (surgeons, physiotherapists, nurses) participated in this study. Their age ranged from 30-40 years. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 900 healthcare providers of three to ten years of working as a healthcare provider. Intensity of the pain and degree of functional disability were assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Anthropometry, personal and occupational history were collected in addition to measuring scales. Results: The scores of Oswestry Disability Index revealed that 624 participants of the total sample have low back pain; 133 (22%) subjects had minimal disability, 390 (63%) had moderate disability and 101 (16%) subjects had severe disability. Prevalence of LBP among surgeons, physiotherapists and nurses were 183 (61%), 208 (69%) and 233 (78%) respectively. Gender, overweight, longer duration of practice, smoking and psychological stress had a negative influence on LBP among participants

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