Back pain at office worker

-79- SUMMARY Back Pain is one of the most prevalent medical disorders in societies. 80 % of adults experience back pain in some time of their life time. Back pain is a very important health problem for diagnosis, cost of healing, loss of working days & working power. The risk factors associated with back pain may be age, sex, weight, height, cigarette smoking, occupation, or psychologic factors. In this Study, to find out the factors that effect the back pain among the office workers, 250 workers have been questioned via our poll. 70 % of workers reported that they experienced physical problems while working. And 29,5 of them reported that their problems were about back pain. Our study showed that height, weight, bmi, cigarette smoking & occupational stress are important risk factors for back pain. 67 % of workers frequently make repetitive jobs. 83 % of them have occupatioanal stress. Although they have prolonged working hours & have to spend most of theese hours by sitting, the ones who participate in sports activities have little problems associated with back pain than the others who do not. We concluded that during work time, occupational stress, repetitive or monotonous jobs, nonergonomic working enviroment & wrong posture are risk factors associated with back pain. To minimize the risks of back pain, workers must choose the proper chairs & tables ; they must be aware of right & effective-80- usage of office tools and also to decrease the occupational stress, they must participate in social activities. To maintain a positive relation with the employers, some sports & educational activities should be held in certain times in which both workers & employers take part. A positive relation between workers & employers not only increases the working productivity but also decreases the physical problems, especially the back pain.