FREQUENCY OF LOW BACK PAIN AMONG HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS OF REHMAN MEDICAL INSTITUTE PESHAWAR: A CROSS SECTIONAL SURVEY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Non-specific Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common cause of musculoskeletal disorder related to work status and condition. The objective of this study was to determine frequency of low back pain among health care professionals of Rehman Medical Institute Peshawar.

METHODOLOGY: A total of 150 subjects were selected, including 118 males and 32 females. Diagnosis was made after initial assessment by a physical therapist, pain was recorded on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and disability was recorded on the self-reported questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.

RESULTS: Majority (72.2%) of participants in current study were in age group 21 to 30 years. (Table 1) Majority (78.7%) of participants were male while 21.3% were female. 73 patients (48.7%) were having backache history of 2 years whereas, 18 (12%) subjects reported backache history of 5 years and 10 6.7%  subjects having backache history of 10 years. Remaining 49 subjects (32.7%) were not having any back pain complaint. About 18.7% of the patients reported minimum pain intensity, 35.5% with mild pain intensity, 11.3% with moderate pain intensity and 2% of patients with severe pain intensity and 32.7% reported no pain at all. Majority (82%) subjects showed mild disability with the disability score below 57, 15.3% showed moderate disability with the score of 71 and 2.7% of the subjects showed severe disability with the disability score of 85.

CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded from the above findings that the nonspecific low back pain is common among age group 21 to 30 with specifically male being more affected. Greater number of Patients was observed having backache history of two years. Work load and posture related complications are associated with worsening of low back pain and disability among young adult subjects.