The prevalence of low back pain among female hospital staff at childbearing age

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is considered the most common work-related musculoskeletal disorder among female healthcare workers. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of LBP and non-ergonomic risk factors between female nurses, office workers, and patient transporters, and the effect of pain on job performance. METHODS: Based on semi-structured interviews, we conducted a cross-sectional study on Jordanian female hospital workers between January and July, 2017. RESULTS: We included 209 participants with a mean age of 35.57 ± 8 years from four Jordanian medical centers. Nurses have significantly higher frequency of LBP (82.5%; p = 0.05) compared to both office workers (67.5%) and patient transporters (68.6%). The mean difference in pain score using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) after treatment varied significantly (p = 0.003), since it was 28.2 (±35.4) for office workers, compared to 22.8 (±26.5) for nurses and 6.5 (±33.7) for patient transporters. A higher frequency of nurses reported that LBP affected their job performance (64.9%; p = 0.013), and 43.3% of them reported having previous sick leaves due to LBP (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: LBP is common among female hospital workers, with significantly higher prevalence among female nurses when compared to other female hospital staff.