Back pain in nursing and associated factors: a study

Abstract

This article reports on an assessment of back pain and associated factors undertaken with nursing staff on nine NHS hospital wards and two private wards. One hundred and sixty eight nurses completed a confidential, retrospective questionnaire. The results suggest that despite the implementation of the 1992 EC manual handling operations regulations, back pain among nurses still remains a problem and is often due to the cumulative effects of work pressures. There is little evidence that training in manual handling reduces the prevalence of back pain directly, since the factors influencing the occurrence of back pain are complex.

Prevalence, consequences and predictors of low back pain among nurses in a tertiary care setting

“…Studies involving nurses found that fixed low back postures [54] and prolonged standing and sitting [55] were significant predictors for perceived risk of musculoskeletal injury or illness. In our study, nurses with direct contact showed significantly lower prevalence of LBP than those who are enrolled in office work.…”

Musculoskeletal disorders among nursing personnel in Korea

“…The nursing profession ranks second after industrial work where physical workload is concerned (Engels et al, 1994). Among nurses, low back pain is known to be the most frequently occurring MSD, with the 12-month prevalence ranging from 30% to 70% (Stubbs et al, 1983;Estryn-Behar et al, 1990;Chiou et al, 1994;Larese and Fiorito, 1994;Smedley et al, 1995, Hollingdale andWarin, 1997). The low back pain incidence rate of nurses' aides was higher than more traditional heavy physical occupations such as construction worker and garbage collector (Marras et al, 1999).…”

Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physical therapists

“…According to another study, the PTs rank second after nurses with regard to the work-related LBP among all health workers [11] due to the fact that PTs have to repeatedly overload their spines. Most of the patients PTs treat, especially in rehabilitation departments are dependent and cannot move on their own.…”