Low Back Pain and Sciatica among Nursing Personnel

Introduction: Low back pain and sciatica among nursing personnel is a worldwide phenomenon that has been the subject of research in a lot of countries and is due to individual, psychosocial and professional factors. Aim: The recording of low back pain and sciatica in nursing personnel and the estimate of their intensity. Method: The sample consisted of 430 nurses from medical and surgical wards, intensive units and operation rooms from hospitals of Thessaloniki. Respondents were selected via stratified sampling. The self-administered “Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire” was used which evaluates mainly the intensity of pain. Initially, there was a direct translation and cultural adaptation, and then pilot tested to 12 nurses. It was then administered to the sample. Data collection took place from September to November 2011 with a 100% response rate. Results were summarized by descriptive statistics and relationships were investigated using inferential statistics (Spearman’s r) at p<0.05. Results: The 77.9% οf the sample confirmed suffering from low back pain and 52.9% of them, from sciatica as well. Α positive, very strong and statistically significant association was detected between the degree of disability and the duration of complaints (rho = 0.734, p<0.001), a positive and strong correlation between the degree of incapacity and work experience (rho=0.601, p<0.001), while a moderate and positive correlation was observed between age and duration of musculoskeletal problems (rho = 0.326, p <0.001). Conclusions: The sample reports significantly increased frequency of low back pain and sciatica. In order to adequately confront this problem the following suggestions are made: adequate staffing, ergonomic education, use of updated technological equipment and increased physical activity. Finally, further research on the Greek situation will be particularly useful such as developing targeted exploratory studies to deepen our understanding of the phenomenon and also, additional comparative studies of the effectiveness of educational programs for the prevention of low back pain and sciatica in nurses. Key- Words: Low back pain, Sciatica, N