Pattern of Household Activities and its Effects on Low Back Pain Among Bangladeshi Housewives

Abstract

Background: Housework is traditionally an unpaid labour performed by women. It involves routine and compulsory household maintenance tasks can create musculoskeletal disorder like Law back pain (LBP). Objective: The main objective of the study was to identify the effects of household activities on LBP among Bangladeshi housewives. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 255 respondents. At the Musculoskeletal department of Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), Savar, Dhaka. The questionnaire was designed according to Bangladesh perspectives regarding household activities that housewife do at home. Severity of pain was assessed using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and data ware collected using face to face interview. Results: Study found that household activities like cooking and chopping (p<.0001), washing dish and cloth (p<.0001), sweeping floor/cleaning toilet (p<.0001) were significantly associated with LBP. The results from regression analysis showed that having LBP compare with the time duration of cooking (OR=11.2; CI=2.62-47.73), chopping (OR=2.67; CI=1.44-4.93), washing dish (OR=3.33; CI=1.50-7.39), washing cloth (OR=5.71; CI=2.94-11.10), sweeping floor (OR=4.71; CI=2.33-9.53) was significantly higher among housewife than who don’t do this activity at home. Conclusion: This study revealed that all of married women had to do their household activities for a long period in awkward posture. Elderly housewives suffer more, as the duration of married life and duration of doing household activities are high among them. Among the activities coking, chopping, washing dish, washing cloth, lift heavy objects and sweeping the floor/cleaning toilet were done by maximum housewives. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2020; 46(3): 189-195