PREVALENCE AND KNOWLEDGE OF BACK PAIN AMONG NURSES WORKING IN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE FACILITIES IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE

Abstract

Back Pain (BP) is a major public health problem worldwide. Studies have shown that health care providers, especially nurses, are at increased risk of BP because of the nature of their profession, which entails lifting of patients, bending and standing routinely. Information about the prevalence of BP among nurses in Nigeria is scanty. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of BP and assess its knowledge among nurses in public health care facilities in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

The study was descriptive and cross-sectional in design. A three-stage sampling technique which included stratified, proportionate and random sampling was used to select 121 nurses from the five secondary and 225 nurses from the Iwo tertiary public health care facilities in city. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, which included the questions on socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported prevalence of BP and a 15-point Knowledge scale on BP. Knowledge score ≥ 9 was rated good while ≤9 was rated poor. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test with the level of significance set at 95%.

Mean age of respondents was 39.6 ± 8.3 years, 91.3% female, 83.0% had basic nursing diploma while 17.0% had university degree. Eighty-nine percent reported ever having BP, of this 12.7% never sought any form of treatment, 48.1% had self medication while 28.0% received treatment in a hospital. Prevalence rates of BP among nurses by type of health care facilities were 90.9% and 88.9% for secondary and tertiary health care facilities respectively. It was 89.6% and 86.7% among female and male nurses respectively with no significant difference. It was 94.9% in nurses with university degree and 88.5% in those with the basic nursing diploma. Prevalence rates of BP among nurses by professional cadres were, 88.8% (Nursing Officer II), 88.0% (Nursing Officer I), 91.3% (Senior Nursing Officer), 88.9% (Principal Nursing Officer), 91.3% (Assistant Chief Nursing Officer) and 90.0 (Chief Nursing Officer). Mean knowledge score was 9.6 ± 1.8 with 89.0% having good knowledge of BP. Mean knowledge score by facilities were 9.3 ± 1.8 and 9.8 ± 1.8 for secondary and tertiary health care facilities respectively. Participants with university degree had a significantly higher mean knowledge score (10.1 ± 1.7) than those with the basic nursing diploma (9.5 ± 1.9). The commonest location of BP was the low back in 71.0% of the participants. Lifting (23.4%) and standing (20.2%) accounted for the perceived commonest causes of BP in nurses. Other perceived causes of BP were household chores (9.6%) and prolonged sitting (5.0%). The prevalence of back pain was found to be high and the knowledge of BP was also high. It is recommended that nurses should undergo periodic training to develop postural skills needed to be adopted for patients' care and transfer in order to avoid BP in the course of discharge of their duties. Machines could also be provided to reduce manual efforts in lifting patients and nurses should he trained on how to use them.