Nonspecific cervical spine pain/neck pain/in medical personnel of north-eastern Poland-A cross-sectional study.

UNLABELLED: Both mechanical and psychological overload are inherent to the work of nurses and paramedics, resulting spondylogenic pain.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To identify potential risk factors influencing the prevalence of non-specific cervical spine pain in professionally active nurses and paramedics.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

324 nurses (53.2% of the total) and 285 paramedics (46.8%) were included in the study-609 people in total. The study was carried out using an auditorium survey technique supervised by the researchers. The methods used were: Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, a spinal pain questionnaire validated according to IEA guidelines, a short version of the IPAQ and the author's survey questionnaire, concerning sociodemographic data, chronic diseases including metabolic syndrome (MetS). A univariate logistic regression model was used in the statistical analysis. The level of statistical significance was taken as p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Recurrent NP was significantly more common in paramedics compared to nurses (29.5 % vs. 9.3 %; p < 0.0001). In a univariate logistic regression model, the risk of NP was significantly increased by: length of service > 15 years (p < 0.024), presence of: low back pain (p < 0.0001), type 2 diabetes (p = 0.013), hypertension (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.01). Of the modifiable factors, the risk of NP was significantly increased by high physical activity and short sleep <7 h (p < 0.001).