Low Back Pain and Its Risk Factors Among Nurses Working in East Bale, Bale, and West Arsi Zone Government Hospitals, Oromia Region, South East Ethiopia, 2021 –Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Hospital nursing staff are particularly susceptible to low back pain (LBP) a widespread health issue worldwide. There was little available data on the prevalence of LBP and risk factors related to it in this population. OBJECTIVE: Assessed the prevalence of LBP and risk factors in nurses working in South-East Ethiopia’s Oromia region in the East Bale, Bale, and West Arsi zone government hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out within an institution in the East Bale, Bale, and West Arsi zone government hospitals; 440 nurses were chosen to use a process of systematic random sampling, and data was gathered between June 1 and July 30, 2021. Using pre-designed questionnaires, I interrogated participants. After being verified as complete, the gathered data was entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bi variate and multivariate logistic regressions with 95% confidence intervals and crude and adjusted odd ratios were generated and interpreted as necessary. To deem a result statistically significant, a p-value of 0.05 or lower was required. RESULTS: A total of 427 nurses engaged in the interview out of the 440 participants that wanted to take part in the study, yielding a response rate of 97.1%. Low back pain was 42.6% more common over a year [95% CI: (0.384, 0.476)]. According to the multivariate analysis, females [AOR = 1.791; 95% CI: (1.121, 2.861)], age higher than forty [AOR=2.388, 95% CI: (1.315, 4.337)], age grouped 31–40 years [(AOR=2.064, 95% CI: 1.233, 3.455)], divorced [(AOR=10.288, 95% CI: (3.063, 34.553)], married [(AOR=1.676 (1.675, 16.999)]. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that implementing preventive measures and offering ergonomic training can help reduce LBP among nurses in these hospitals.