Self-assessment of back pain incidence in nursing staff and physicians

Abstract

Introduction. Musculoskeletal disorders and diseases related to the spine constitute a seri-ous medical, social and economic problem. The aim of this study was to self-assessment of back pain incidence in nursing staff and physicians. Material and methods. The results of 100 professionally active people aged 40-50 were analyzed, including 50 representing the nursing staff and 50 physicians who suffered from back pain in the two years preceding the study. The research tool was the author’s question-naire and the NDI and ODI indicies. The collected research results were analysed with the use of Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test. Results. Among representatives of both medical professions, back pain occurred with a simi-lar frequency in the cervical and lumbar parts of the spine. We found that 48% of the nursing staff and 46% of physicians used medical care, and about 80% of the respondents used physiotherapy. Conclusions. There is a need to disseminate spinal pain prevention programs among nursing staff and physicians, which will improve work efficiency.