Low back pain among doctors in a tertiary institution in Southern Nigeria

Introduction: Low back pain is common in health workers with deleterious effects on their work and quality of life.

Aims: This study aimed to identify work related disabilities and risk factors for low back pain amongst doctors in Nigeria.

Methodology: One hundred and fifty-four doctors were recruited and a structured proforma was administered using the Aberdeen low back pain scale, revised Oswestry and Quebec pain scales as guides. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social sciences version 25. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to calculate the odds ratios for the independent risk factors for LBP. Level of significance was determined at p < 0.05.

Results: The male to female ratio was 1.8:1 and 70(45.50%) doctors were in the age range of 31-40years. Half (50%) of the respondents were obese while 21.9% were overweight. The duration of an episode of back pain was less than a week in 130 (84.40%) persons. A few doctors- 22(14.29%) reported that low back pain had prevented them from coming into work, of these, 12 had been absent for a day, four for 2-7 days and six for 1 to 4 weeks. Anesthetists were ten times more likely to develop low back pain than any other medical specialty (OR=10.99, 95%CI=1.336-90.545, p=0.026) and increasing age and BMI were also identified as predictors of low back pain.

Conclusion: Low back pain is associated with poor productivity among doctors and can impact health care delivery.