Low Back Pain Among Employees of the Qassim Health Cluster: Prevalence, Patterns, and Predictive Factors.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and its association with demographic and occupational factors and disability among healthcare professionals and administrative staff in the Qassim Health Cluster in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was employed using a self-administered questionnaire. Data collection was carried out from 323 workers in Qassim Health Cluster, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire gathered data based on demographics, lifestyle, occupational factors, LBP characteristics, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression.

RESULTS

LBP prevalence was high among nurses and doctors belonging to the age group 31-50 years. The significant factors associated with LBP and ODI scores are lack of regular exercise, inadequate sleep, lifting heavy weight, high pain, and being of the female gender. Multiple linear regression depicted that current pain VAS (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), pain radiating to the legs (β = 0.26, p < 0.001), and daily sleeping hours (β = -0.11, p = 0.019) were independent predictors of disability, explaining 36.9% of the variance in ODI.

CONCLUSION

LBP prevalence is high (84.8%) among workers in the Qassim Health Cluster, with significant functional disability. There is a need to plan interventions in order to improve workers' health and to engage in a work-life balance approach to overcome LBP and enhance productivity.