MANUAL HANDLING ACTIVITIES AND RISK OF LOW-BACK-PAIN IN NURSES

Objective-To investigate the risk factors for low back pain in hospita l nurses, with particular emphasis on the role of specific nursing act ivities. Methods-A cross sectional survey of 2405 nurses employed by a group of teaching hospitals was carried out. Self administered questi onnaires were used to collect information about occupational activitie s, non-occupational risk factors for back symptoms, and history of low back pain. Results-The overall response rate was 69%. Among 1616 wome n, the lifetime prevalence of back pain was 60% and the one year perio d prevalence 45%. 10% had been absent from work because of back pain f or a cumulative period exceeding four weeks. Rates in men were general ly similar to those in women. In women back pain during the previous 1 2 months was weakly associated with height, and was significantly more common in those who reported frequent non-musculoskeletal symptoms su ch as headache and low mood. After adjustment for height and non-muscu loskeletal symptoms, significant associations were found with frequenc y of manually moving patients around on the bed, manually transferring patients between bed and chair, and manually lifting patients from th e floor. In contrast, no clear increase in risk was found in relation to transfer of patients with canvas and poles, manually lifting patien ts in and out of the bath, or lifting patients with mechanical aids. C onfirmation of these findings is now being sought in a prospective stu dy of the same population. Conclusions-This study confirms that low ba ck pain is highly prevalent among nurses and is associated with a high level of sickness absence. People who often report non-musculoskeleta l symptoms were significantly more likely to report low back pain. Spe cific manual handling tasks were associated with an increased risk of back pain; however, no such association was found with mechanised pati ent transfers.