ABSTRACT
Objective:
to determine the prevalence and factors associated with nonspecific low back pain in nursing workers in a public hospital in the South of the country.
Method:
a cross-sectional study involving 301 nursing workers. Data collection was carried out from May to October 2017 and, in addition to a questionnaire with sociodemographic, work, health conditions, lifestyle and psychosocial conditions, the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used as a screening tool for low back pain and the Self Report Questionnaire to assess the possibility of minor psychiatric disorders. The Chi-Square test was used to analyze the association between variables, and multivariate analysis with Binary Logistic Regression to estimate the Odds Ratio and the 95% confidence intervals.
Results:
the prevalence of nonspecific low back pain was 51.4% (95% CI: 45.5-57.3) in the last 12 months and 45.4% (95% CI: 39.4-51.3) in the last seven days, and limitation for activities of daily living and work of 18.1% (95% CI: 13.5-22.7). The presence of other diseases and psychosocial and psychological factors increased the chances of presenting or low back pain discomfort.
Conclusion:
the results demonstrate the need for greater attention to nursing workers, mainly related to the presence of musculoskeletal pain and to their mental suffering.
DESCRIPTORS:
Low back pain; Nursing; Prevalence; Risk factors; Professional diseases