Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence and associated factors for back pain in nurses.
Methodology: This is a descriptive cross sectional study and 400 nurses were approached to participate through purposive sampling method but only 294 (response rate 73.5%) finally agreed to participate. The study duration was three months from February-April 2104. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data.
Results: Among 294 nursing staff, 231 (78.5%) complained of back pain during their serving career. Around 45% (103) of those who had back pain, suffered from an episode once a week. Transferring contributed to back pain in 114 (39%) nurses and lifting patients in 88 (30%). Stooping was a factor in 202 (69%) nurses.
Conclusion: High prevalence of back pain in nurses was found in this study. Inappropriate and poor transferring techniques were highly associated with back pain. The numbers of cases are mostly ignored because nurses seen were hesitant to report their back pain.

Key words: Low back pain, occupational factors, nursing