Increased low back pain risk in nurses with high workload for patient care: A questionnaire survey

Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Aug;55(4):525-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tjog.2016.06.013.

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) increased in hospital nurses with high patient care workload.

Materials and methods: A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the prevalence of LBP and its associated factors from 788 registered nurses from a medical center in Taiwan.

Results: Among all nurses with eligible questionnaires, 567 (72.0%) had LBP. Mean daily hours of working, standing, and walking were persistently longer in the LBP group. Results from multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that daily working for 1 hour longer is linked to a 35% (95% confidence interval (CI)=2-78%) greater risk of LBP. Compared with <2 years of service as nurse, nurses with 2-5 years of service had the highest risk (odds ratio (OR)=2.11, 95% CI=1.07-4.18). LBP risk was also higher for nurses with chore duty responsibilities (OR=1.99, 95% CI=1.12-3.53) and other back related disorders (OR=4.43, 95% CI=1.99-9.86).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that longer daily working hours and a large number of cared patients per shift should be discouraged in order to prevent musculoskeletal problems such as LBP in registered nurses.

Keywords: job stress; low back pain; nurses; occupational health; prolonged work shift.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Low Back Pain / epidemiology
  • Low Back Pain / etiology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Nursing Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Nursing Staff, Hospital / statistics & numerical data*
  • Occupational Diseases / epidemiology
  • Occupational Diseases / etiology*
  • Odds Ratio
  • Prevalence
  • Risk Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Taiwan / epidemiology
  • Time Factors
  • Work Schedule Tolerance
  • Workload / statistics & numerical data*
  • Young Adult