The lower back pain of health care professionals at Elaziğ Training and Research Hospital and the factors that affect it

Work environments in the field of health service and especially hospitals involves important occupational health and safety risks. Workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common health problems. Lower back pain is the most commonly seen disorder. This study examined the prevalence of lower back pain in health professionals and the factors that affect it. It used a descriptive research design. The universe of the study consisted of health care professionals at Elazığ Training and Research Hospital in Elazığ Province. The number of these health care professionals was 1,024 in total, including 207 doctors, 368 nurses, 166 midwives and 283Bother medical stuff. No sample was selected. A questionnaire form was administered to the healthcare professionals included. The participants filled out questionnaires, and face-to-face interviews were used. The response rate was 48.8% (500 people). A question form about the sociodemographic characteristics of the health care professionals and the Oswestry Lower Back Pain Scale were used as data collection tools. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence for cigarette smoking, which is thought to affect lower back pain, was also administered to them. Of the health care professionals, 67.4% were female, 19.4% were doctors, and 57.2% were nurses or midwives. Of them, 5.6% were other medical personnel, 12.6% were technicians or mechanics, and 1.6% were physiotherapist. Of them, 75.2% were married and 18% had doctorates. Of the participants, 29.4% had occasional lower back pain complaints, and 55.2% were suffering from lower back pain complaints. Of the health care professionals, 47.4% reported that they had visited a doctor due to lower back pain, 63.3% reported that they took medication for lower back pain, and 21.4% reported that they had taken sick leave due to lower back pain. Of them, 40.4% reported that their pain affected their work performance, and 7.2% said that they had changed their work units to a unit with less work-load because of their lower back pain. Their mean score on the Oswestry Scale, which assesses the severity of lower back pain and disability caused by this pain, was found to be 33.78±1.37. The mean score was found to be higher for female professionals (35.47±13.96) than for male professionals. No significant correlation was found between lower back pain and smoking. There are several effective recommendations for health care professionals who are at risk in terms of lower back pain to maintain their health. Therefore, lower back pain should be relieved, the work environments of health care professionals should be assessed ergonomically and necessary arrangements should be made so that they can work healthily. Also, common education should be offered to health care professionals to enable them to adopt proper habits to protect and maintain their musculoskeletal system's health.