Am J Med Public Health | Volume 4, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access
Beyene D, Andualem Z and Worede EA*
*Correspondance to: Eshetu Abera Worede
Fulltext PDFBackground: Low back pain is one of the most common work-related health problems among public office workers, but data are limited. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors affected low back pain among public office workers. Methods: Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to May 2021. The data was collected using self-administered standardized Nordic musculoskeletal Questionnaires. Epi Info version 4.6 and Stata version 16 were used for data entry and analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors associated with low back pain. Result: In this study, one-year and one week prevalence of low back pain among public office workers were 34.56% (95% CI: 30.73-38.37) and 22.87% (95% CI: 19.54-24.37) respectively. Higher age (AOR=3.18, 95% CI: 1.8-5.62), higher work experience (AOR=2.26, 95% CI: 1.36-3.77), lack of physical exercise (AOR=8.85, 95% CI: 4.36-17.9) and use computer frequently (AOR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.41-0.94) were significantly associated with low back pain among public office workers. Conclusion: The prevalence of low-back pain among public office workers was relatively low as compared to other studies. Higher age, more work experience, lack of physical exercise and use of computer frequently were significantly associated with low back pain. Therefore, workplace health and safety awareness training are recommended to minimize the burden of low back pain among public office workers.
MSDS; Associated factor; Public office workers; Magnitude
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Institute of Public Health, University of Gondar, Ethiopia.